How to order your free COVID-19 tests

FAfter a surge in COVID-19 infections over the summer, Americans will soon be able to order free COVID-19 tests this fall.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has not yet announced an official date when the nasal swab tests will be available, but says the kits should be available to order by the end of September. The initiative is being rolled out ahead of the holiday season, when colds, flu and other illnesses are more common.

Households can get four free antigen COVID-19 tests by visiting COVIDtests.gov, a repeat of the 2023 program. And the department says these tests will be able to “detect current COVID-19 variants and can be used through the end of the year,” its website says.

The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the positive test rate for COVID-19 is 14.9%. That’s down from the peak of 17.8% in August, although that number is still high. For comparison, in May the positive test rate was around 3-4%.

On Monday, the website for ordering the tests was apparently unavailable due to “too much traffic or a configuration error.”

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 900 million COVID-10 tests were distributed to Americans through this program in 2023.

Last month, U.S. regulators approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine designed to combat the KP variant. The predominant variant that is in circulation. Children as young as 6 months old can receive the vaccination.

“Vaccination remains the cornerstone of COVID-19 prevention,” said Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a press release. “Given the waning population immunity from previous exposure to the virus and from previous vaccinations, we strongly recommend that those eligible get vaccinated with an updated COVID-19 vaccine to ensure greater protection against the variants currently circulating.”