Free COVID Tests Are Going Away

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Have you ordered your first, second, and third rounds of free COVID tests from the U.S. government? If not, click over to covidtests.gov and make your request now, because the program’s funding is about to dry up. The website now has an announcement that the program will be suspended on September 2, which is this Friday, “because Congress hasn’t provided additional funding to replenish the nation’s stockpile of tests.”

To order your free COVID tests:

  1. Fill out the form on covidtests.gov, which asks for your name and address.
  2. Click “check out.” There is no payment needed; your total shows as $0 and they don’t ask for credit card numbers or anything else. (If you’re on a website that asks you to pay a shipping fee, it’s a scam.)
  3. After ordering, you can place another order immediately if you haven’t yet hit the limit of three orders per household.

An order of tests gets you eight tests, which are usually shipped in two packages each containing four tests. (When the program was initially launched, you would get four tests per order. It’s unclear whether placing three orders now will get you a total of 24 tests or if some of the orders will be fulfilled as four tests.)

A White House official told CNN that the program will be suspended Friday regardless of how many tests remain in the stockpile, and they’ll save any leftovers “for distribution later this year.” If Congress grants additional funding, covidtests.gov could be up and running whenever that occurs.

If you’re blind or otherwise have difficulty using at-home COVID tests, you can use this website to request free Ellume tests, which read the results to you using a smartphone app. You can also call 888-677-1199 Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Eastern) or email DIAL@usaginganddisability.org.

 

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