U.S. HHS Announces Free COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Tests Available Again

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) COVID.gov website announced “as of September 25, 2023, residential households in the U.S. can order one set of 4 free at-home tests.”  There is a limit of one order per residential address, and each order includes four individual rapid antigen at-home diagnostic tests.  Tests will include information on their extended shelf life and updated expiration dates.  Before discarding “expired” tests, HHS recommends checking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Authorized At-Home OTC COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests and Expiration Dates information page – it lists all FDA authorized at-home over-the-counter COVID-19 diagnostic tests, their use instructions, their lot numbers, as well as their expiration dates and updated expiration dates.  [A test’s expiration date is set at the end of the test’s shelf-life (ie, how long the test should work as expected).  An extended expiration date “means the manufacturer provided data showing that the shelf-life is longer than was known when the test was first authorized.”]  HHS will also continue to provide low- or no-cost COVID-19 tests to uninsured individuals and underserved communities through its Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) Health Centers, Administration for Strategic Preparedness & Response (ASPR) Test to Treat sites, and Increasing Community Access to Testing (ICATT) locations.