Free COVID-19 tests are back for fall 2024. Here’s how to get them.

As cases of a new COVID-19 variant tick upward across the U.S., the federal government is again offering Americans free at-home COVID-19 test kits. Individuals and households can begin ordering the test kits later this month, on the heels of a summer wave of COVID-19 cases. 

The Biden administration restarted the same program last fall, too, after a brief pause to conserve test supplies. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the program, has started taking orders again for the at-home COVID-19 tests through the COVIDTests.gov website. 

Once an order is placed, U.S. Postal Service ships the test kits directly to peoples’ homes.  

U.S. households will be permitted to order as many as four test kits each. The over-the-counter kits detect current COVID-19 variants and can be used through the end of the year, according to HHS. They are expected to start shipping the week of Sept. 30 and are intended to help provide home testing options ahead of the holiday season, when families often travel to gather for Thanksgiving, Christmas and other celebrations. 

The program’s website encourages people to check test expiration dates against the FDA’s updated guidance on tests’ shelf life. Some test kits with expiration dates printed on them that are in the past, may in fact still deliver accurate results. 

HHS encourages testing for COVID-19, so that individuals who contract the virus can seek treatment and self-isolate or take other steps, like wear a mask, so as not to infect others. To date, the federal program has distributed more than 900 million tests to American households.

The tests can be costly when purchased over-the-counter at drugstores across the U.S., making them unaffordable for many families. For example, a pack of two BinaxNow COVID-19 antigen self-tests from Abbott costs $18.99 at CVS.com. 

Other government efforts aimed at stemming the virus’ spread include a renewed vaccination initiative. The government encourages residents to get an updated COVID-19 booster shot to prepare for the fall and winter respiratory virus season. 

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration approved updated COVID-19 vaccine formulations from Pfizer and Moderna, which are currently being administered at pharmacies nationwide. The FDA later authorized Novavax’s new protein-based COVID-19 vaccine, which is also available to patients.