Free COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Tests Available Again

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced every U.S. household is again eligible to order free covid-19 at-home rapid antigen tests, by visiting the COVIDTests.gov website.  There is a limit of one order per residential address, and each order includes four individual rapid antigen tests.  Order via the web-based USPS form or by calling 800-232-0233.  To help improve understanding of at-home test use, HHS encourages people to report their negative or positive test results at the secure MakeMyTestCount.org website.  HHS also advises “many COVID-19 test have extended expiration dates,” and one may be able to use a test after the expiration date printed on the box.  To see if a test has an extended expiration date, check 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.