Free at-home COVID tests will be available this fall
By: Adrianna Rodriquez
USA Today
..... Once again, the federal government will provide free COVID-19 test kits to people across the U.S. to prepare for the respiratory virus season during the fall and winter months, [2024-2025] health officials announced Friday. [08/23/2024]
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The site COVIDtest-gov will begin taking orders in late September, [2024] said Dawn O'Connell, assistant secretary for preprepared and persons at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Americans can order up to four test per household to be sent directly to their homes.
..... "Don't forget to sue these free test s when you're concerned that you or your loved one may have COVID," O'Connell said. "they will do no one any good sitting in your medicine cabinet."
..... She said the test will be able to detect the dominant variants that are currently circulating. As of Friday, [08/23/2024] the sub-variant KP.3.1.1 made up nearly 37% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., and KP.3 made up over 16%, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
..... This is the seventh time in the past three years the administration has provided free test kits to Americans, O'Connell said. About 900 million home tests have been distributed through the program in partnership with the U.S. Postal Service.
..... The announcement comes a day after the Food and Drug Administration approve an updated COVID-19 vaccine formulation form Pfizer and Moderna. Shots are expected to arrive at distribution sites across the country in the coming days. The CDC recommends this year's [2024] doses for everyone 6 moths and older. They will target the JN1 sub-variant KP.2.
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To prepare for the season, the CDC also will distribute $62 million in "unused vaccine contract money" to local and state health departments to provide updated vaccines to people who are uninsured and under-insured, an agency spokesperson said.
..... The funding is likely aimed at helping to cover the loss of the $1.1 billion Bridge Access Program, which ends August 31. [2024] that program allowed uninsured and under-insured people in the U.S. to get free COVID-19 vaccines and provided 1.5 million people with shots after ti launched last September. [2023]