Following a summer time uptick of COVID-19 infections, Individuals will quickly be capable to order free COVID-19 exams this fall.
The U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers has not but supplied an official date that the nasal swab exams will probably be obtainable, however says kits needs to be able to order by the tip of September. The initiative is rolling out forward of the vacation season, when colds, flus and different diseases develop into extra widespread.
Households will be capable to acquire 4 free antigen COVID-19 exams by visiting COVIDtests.gov, a repeat of the 2023 program. And the division says that these exams will be capable to “detect present COVID-19 variants and can be utilized by the tip of the yr,” in accordance with its web site.
The most recent information from the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention discovered that take a look at positivity for COVID-19 stood at 14.9%, a lower from the 17.8% excessive reached in August, although that quantity remains to be elevated. By comparability, in Could, positivity hovered round 3-4%.
On Monday, the web site to order the exams seemed to be down as a result of “an excessive amount of site visitors or a configuration error.”
In 2023, 900 million COVID-10 exams went out to Individuals by this system, in accordance with U.S. Well being and Human Providers.
Final month, U.S. regulators authorized an up to date COVID-19 vaccine that seeks to fight the KP variant pressure, the predominant variant that has been circulating. People as younger as 6 months will probably be eligible to obtain the shot.
“Vaccination continues to be the cornerstone of COVID-19 prevention,” Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Heart for Biologics Analysis and Analysis mentioned in a press launch. “Given waning immunity of the inhabitants from earlier publicity to the virus and from prior vaccination, we strongly encourage those that are eligible to think about receiving an up to date COVID-19 vaccine to offer higher safety towards at the moment circulating variants.”
