Tag Archives: COVID tests

Axios reports: The federal government plans to relaunch its free COVID-19 home testing program at the end of September after suspending the program in March. The Biden administration’s announcement Friday comes as the number of COVID infections grows in a summertime surge. The Food & Drug Administration approved new formulations of both Moderna and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday. …

Axios reports: The Biden administration for the first time will allow all schools to order free COVID-19 tests from the federal government ahead of the holidays, officials told Axios first. The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), an agency within HHS, has a stockpile of hundreds of millions of COVID tests. It is teaming up with the Department of …

CNET reports: Starting today, the US Postal Service said it will begin shipping free COVID tests to homes across the country. The new at-home tests are made possible by a $600 million investment from the White House that includes grants for 12 manufacturing companies that produce the tests. The new free tests from the post office come at a time …

The New York Times reports: The Biden administration, looking ahead to a possible winter surge of Covid-19, announced on Wednesday that it was reviving its program of offering Americans free coronavirus tests through the mail and would spend more than $600 million to buy tests from a dozen domestic manufacturers. The website for the program, covidtests.gov, will begin accepting orders …

Changing America reports: Is it safe to use a COVID-19 test that is past the expiration? The answer, it turns out, depends on what brand of test you have. The FDA has extended that date for a number of different at-home COVID-19 tests. The expiration date for multiple lots of BinaxNow COVID-19 antigen tests that were sold at CVS, for …

Via press release from the FDA: Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first over-the-counter (OTC) at-home diagnostic test that can differentiate and detect influenza A and B, commonly known as the flu, and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The Lucira COVID-19 & Flu Home Test is a single-use at-home test …

The Associated Press reports: The Biden administration is again making some free COVID-19 tests available to all U.S. households as it unveils its contingency plans for potential coronavirus surges this winter. After a three-month hiatus, the administration is making four rapid virus tests available through covidtests.gov starting Thursday, a senior administration official said. The administration is putting personnel and equipment …

NBC News reports: People in the United States can now order four more free, at-home rapid Covid antigen tests from COVIDtests.gov as part of the Biden administration’s effort to increase coronavirus testing. The program, run in partnership with the U.S. Postal Service, began during the omicron surge in December. As with the last round of test shipments, entering a U.S. …

The Washington Post reports: The Biden administration announced Thursday that, starting in early spring, the 64 million people on Medicare will be able to get free coronavirus rapid tests from certain pharmacies. The initiative responds to weeks of criticism from members of Congress and advocacy groups that Medicare, the vast federal insurance system for older and disabled Americans, was left …

CNBC reports: While some users said the website was simple and easy to use, others — particularly people who live in apartment buildings — reported problems in social media posts on Tuesday. The Postal Service said addresses not registered as multi-unit buildings could lead to difficulties placing orders. “Every website launch, in our view, comes with risk,” Psaki told reporters …

CBS News reports: A day ahead of the scheduled rollout of free COVID-19 tests distributed by the Biden administration, some Americans are already placing orders for their free deliveries through a form posted by the U.S. Postal Service. The White House announced last week that it would publicly launch the site covidtests.gov on Wednesday. However, some early visitors to the …

The Washington Post reports: A federal website where Americans can order free coronavirus rapid tests will be launched Wednesday and allow each household to order up to four tests, senior administration officials said. The website, called covidtests.gov, will require that users provide their names and addresses to receive the tests. The government purchased 500 million rapid tests that will be …

NPR reports: President Biden announced Thursday that the administration will be buy another 500 million at-home COVID-19 tests for Americans, in addition to the 500 million already being procured. A website will launch next week so Americans can order the free tests, Biden announced. He also said the White House will make high-quality masks available for free, with details coming …

Gothamist reports: New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the state is expecting to receive millions of additional COVID-19 tests by the end of this week, and will make most of them available to school districts, including one million kits—each with two tests—for New York City’s schools. “They can be in hand for the school districts to be able to deploy …

Gothamist reports: Thousands of New Yorkers lined up at sites in each borough hoping to score one of the coveted at-home COVID-19 test kits the city distributed ahead of the holidays. Five pop-up locations opened Thursday and another five are scheduled to open Friday morning. Vince Mola cackled with happiness after receiving a free kit. “It’s glee, it’s relief and …

USA Today reports: The Biden administration on Monday announced a big push to make rapid COVID-19 home tests available with a $230 million federal contract to an Australian company. The Department of Defense’s deal will allow Ellume to open a U.S. factory and make 19 million rapid tests each month, 8.5 million of which will be provided to the federal …

The Associated Press reports: The first home test for COVID-19 that doesn’t require a prescription will soon be on U.S. store shelves. The FDA’s action Tuesday allows sales in places like drugstores “where a patient can buy it, swab their nose, run the test and find out their results in as little as 20 minutes,” said FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn. …

Via press release from the FDA: Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first over-the-counter (OTC) fully at-home diagnostic test for COVID-19. The Ellume COVID-19 Home Test is a rapid, lateral flow antigen test, a type of test that runs a liquid sample along a surface with reactive molecules. The test detects …

The Verge reports: American Airlines is about to start offering at-home COVID-19 tests to domestic fliers in order to help them meet various state travel restriction requirements, the company announced Tuesday. The airline is partnering with direct-to-consumer home testing company LetsGetChecked, which will sell the tests for $129 on top of the cost of travel. The at-home tests help travelers …