WASHINGTON — Starting this month, Americans will can order free COVID-19 test kits which are sent by post to their home address.
US households can order up to four nasal swabs COVID-testing.gov when the federal program will reopen. The U.S. Health and Human Services agency, which oversees the program, has not yet given an exact date for when orders can begin.
An agency spokesman said the tests will detect current strains of the virus and can be ordered ahead of the holidays, when families and friends gather to celebrate the virus.
US regulators gave their approval last month an updated COVID-19 vaccine designed to combat recent strains of the virus and hopefully the winter strains to come. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already recommended this fall’s vaccination for everyone 6 months and older.
While most Americans have some level of immunity from previous infections and/or vaccinations, that protection wears off. Photos from last fall targeted a different part of the coronavirus family, a strain that is no longer circulating.