The federal government will once again make free Covid tests available this fall, just in time for flu season. The at-home test kits will be ready to order at COVIDtest.gov at the end of September. Households can ask for four tests at a time.
The Biden administration made the announcement on Friday, one day after the FDA announced the approval of two new vaccines to help protect people from new strains of the virus. Covid infections have spiked this summer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has begun measuring levels of the virus in wastewater samples. A high or very high level of Covid-19 has been detected in the wastewater of almost every state, the CDC announced earlier this summer, according to NPR.
Dawn O’Connell, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Department of Health and Human Services, noted that this will be the seventh time since the start of the pandemic that the administration has made free Covid tests available, and recommended that everyone over the age of 6 months should get updated Covid and flu vaccines this fall. You can learn more about the race to fight Covid at our series Pandemic-Proofing America.
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