Free COVID-19 tests are now available

Photo: Violeta Stoimenova/Getty Images

The Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and the U.S. Postal Service are once again offering free COVID-19 tests.

Four tests at no cost are now available through COVIDtests.gov.

The tests can detect the currently circulating COVID-19 variants and include instructions on how to verify extended expiration dates for over-the-counter tests.
 
Also available are tests that are more accessible for people with disabilities affecting dexterity or who are blind or have low vision, through  ACL.gov/AccessibleTests. HHS said it continues to support development of test technologies to improve accessibility. 

WHY THIS MATTERS

COVID-19 activity tends to fluctuate with the seasons, but there is no distinct fall/winter season as there is for influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Data from four years of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths show that COVID-19 has winter peaks - most recently in late December 2023 and early January 2024 - and also summer peaks, with the most recent data being from July and August of 2023. 

CDC data shows a recent downward trend in cases, ER visits, hospitalizations and deaths. Positive COVID-19 tests were 11.6% during the week ending September 21, compared to 13.4% the previous week; ER visits were down to 1.4% from 1.7% the week prior; hospitalizations were down slightly at 4 per 100,000 people compared to 4.1 the week prior; and the percent of deaths decreased to 2.1% from 2.3%.

As of September 24, no states are showing an increase in COVID-19 infections, the CDC estimated. COVID-19 infections are declining or likely declining in 41 states, and are stable or uncertain in seven states.

The public health emergency period for the pandemic started on January 31, 2020 and was lifted on May 11, 2023. As of this September, COVID-19 killed 1.2 million people in the United States, according to the KFF Global COVID-19 Tracker. 

During the PHE, hospitals and clinicians struggled to keep up with the influx of COVID-19 cases, as bread and butter revenue for elective procedures dropped. 

Hospitals are returning to a new financial normal since the end of the pandemic, but the issues of staffing shortages and higher costs remain.

The CDC recommends that everyone six months and older get a dose of the  updated 2024-2025 vaccine, as people do for flu. This includes those who have received a previous vaccine. However, only one in five adults received the updated vaccination the previous year, according to The New York Times.

The COVID-19 vaccine is available at no cost through most commercial insurance plans and Medicare Part B, according to GoodRx. 

For those uninsured, the CDC has provided funds to more than 20,000 retail pharmacies for vaccinations. There may also be local immunization programs that provide low- or -no-cost vaccines, according to the CDC.

Medicaid and CHIP programs covered COVID-19 vaccines without cost-sharing through Sept. 30. Now the vaccines are covered without cost sharing as part of the Inflation Reduction Act-required adult vaccination coverage, according to AAFP, the American Association of Family Physicians. 

THE LARGER TREND

This round of test ordering follows six previous opportunities to obtain free over-the-counter COVID-19 tests through the government program.

Since the program began in the winter of 2021, ASPR and USPS have distributed more than 900 million tests, free of charge, to American households nationwide.
 
These efforts complement ASPR's ongoing distribution of free COVID-19 tests to long-term care facilities, low-income senior housing, aging and disability networks, and other community organizations.

In addition to collaborating with USPS on ordering and distribution of free COVID-19 tests, ASPR previously invested approximately $600 million across 12 domestic COVID-19 test manufacturers to strengthen the nation's capacity to manufacture these tests, reduce reliance on overseas manufacturing, secure millions of new over-the-counter tests for future use, and improve preparedness for COVID-19 and other pandemic threats of the future, HHS said.
 
ON THE RECORD

"Reopening this popular program is the latest step by the Biden-Harris Administration to ensure that over-the-counter COVID-19 tests are available to all who want them this fall and winter," said HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O'Connell. "Before you visit with your family and friends this holiday season, take a quick test and help keep them safe from COVID-19."
 

Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org