The U.S. government was set to officially open a website for Americans to order free COVID-19 rapid test kits on Wednesday, Jan. 19, but the site has begun taking names and addresses one day early.
What Happened: On Tuesday, the website covidtests.gov started taking names and addresses to allow U.S. residents to order four free rapid test kits per month per household.
Once on the site, you tap on the button marked “Order Free At-Home Tests.” That will direct you to a U.S. Postal Service website where you can fill in your name, email address and shipping address. Once completed, simply click the green “Check Out Now” button to finalize the order.
According to a government analytics site, as of Tuesday afternoon, over 8.9 million people had already visited the covidtests.gov website. As the effort to disseminate the free COVID test kits gets underway, there are early signs the program will have some hiccups.
Houston, we have a problem! People at same street address but different apartment numbers are being refused free COVID test kits at https://t.co/Rm7vj6zgKS if another apartment dweller ordered first. This happened to me and I'm not the only one. #USPS #CovidTesting pic.twitter.com/ZllXT7m6jq
— Nicky Sundt (@NickySundt) January 18, 2022
Why It Matters: Near the end of last year, President Joe Biden announced his administration’s strategy for curbing the spread of the omicron variant of COVID would include ordering 500 million at-home tests to ship free to Americans.
An Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) spokesperson responded to the Dec. 21 announcement, saying, "In January, we'll be making 70 million BinaxNOW rapid tests and can scale significantly further in the months ahead."
Related Link: Apple To Require Proof Of COVID Booster Shot For Store And Corporate Employees
The demand for at-home test kits has led several major retailers to raise the price of the products. Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) and The Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) increased their prices earlier this month. Walmart is selling the tests at $19.98 and Kroger has the kits priced at $23.99.
What Else: The effort to make COVID test kits more widely available to Americans comes as the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration’s mandate that would have required private companies from enacting vaccine-or-test requirements on its workforce.
The High Court did allow a similar mandate by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to go into effect at medical facilities that take Medicare or Medicaid payments.
Photo: Courtesy of Diverse Stock Photos on Flickr.
