WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. households can order four free at-home COVID-19 tests from the website COVIDTests.gov starting on Jan. 19 with shipping expected seven to 12 days after ordering, the White House said on Friday.
The batch of free tests are aimed at easing a shortage of COVID-19 tests across the country amid increased demand during the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
The U.S. government has contracted already for more than 420 million tests, the White House said.
President Joe Biden has pledged to procure 1 billion free tests for Americans, and more may be ordered in the future. “We’re not saying we’re stopping there,” one senior administration official told reporters on a conference call.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
