Last chance to get free COVID-19 testing kits sent to your door. How to get yours
Two years after the federal government began offering free at-home COVID-19 testing kits, the program is scheduled to be suspended March 8.
The kits were first announced in January 2022 by the Biden Administration as a way to increase access to COVID-19 testing, according to a news release.
Since then, the administration has announced multiple releases of testing kits available for all U.S. households.
Now, the program is coming to an end as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announces a significant decrease in COVID-19 isolation time and another round of vaccine boosters for older Americans.
Here is how to get testing kits before they are gone.
Ordering online
Any residential household in the U.S. can go to the USPS website to order up to four rapid antigen COVID-19 tests.
Only one order can be placed per address, the agency said.
If you placed a previous order for tests before Sept. 25, 2023, you can order again. If you have not placed an order since September, you can place two orders, according to USPS.
All orders are free to ship.
Ordering will officially close Friday, March 8, but any orders placed before that date will be fulfilled.
Do at-home COVID tests expire?
Yes, at-home antigen tests do have expiration dates.
“The expiration date is set at the end of the shelf-life and is the date through which the test is expected to perform as accurately as when manufactured,” according to the Food and Drug Administration.
Some COVID-19 testing kits had their expiration dates extended when the manufacturers provided data showing their efficacy after they were first authorized, the FDA said.
You can see if your COVID-19 testing kit has an extended expiration date here.
When should I test for COVID-19?
You should use a COVID-19 at-home test if you begin to have symptoms, including, but not limited to, stuffy nose, fever, shortness of breath, cough and chills.
You should also test if you know you have been exposed to someone who is positive for COVID-19, the FDA says. You should take the test five days after exposure, as testing too early can give a false negative.
The FDA also recommends using the tests if you are going to be in contact with someone who is high risk, including immunocompromised individuals and older adults, as a preventative step and avoid transmitting the virus unknowingly.
What are the latest CDC COVID quarantine rules?
The CDC has dropped the five-day isolation guidance for people with COVID-19 and replaced it with general guidance for individuals experiencing symptoms of a respiratory virus.
Though this guidance no longer asks individuals to isolate for a period of five days, it still recommends that people stay home and away from others if they experience symptoms like fever, chills, fatigue and headache among others. After 24 hours, individuals can return to their normal activities if they have not had a fever without the help of fever reducers and if the overall symptoms of a respiratory virus have gotten better.
Prevention and treatment for COVID-19 remains a public health priority
While outcomes are improving, COVID-19 is still a public health threat and CDC continues to recommend using tools in the respiratory virus prevention tool kit that we know reduce the risk of severe disease. Existing data underscore the need for continued efforts to prevent severe illness from COVID-19, especially in older adults, people with pre-existing medical conditions, and infants.
CDC recommends that everyone aged 6 months and older get an updated 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine. To help protect babies younger 6 months from hospitalization due to COVID-19, pregnant people can receive a COVID-19 vaccine at any time during pregnancy. Staying home when sick can help reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19. Staying up to date on vaccination, seeking early testing and treatment, wearing masks, and improving ventilation indoors are all layers of protection you can choose to use to help reduce your risk of getting severely ill with COVID-19.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted a full final approval to Gilead Sciences Inc.’s remdesivir, making it the first Covid-19 treatment deemed safe and effective by the regulator, the company said Thursday.
Remdesivir has been widely used to treat hospitalized Covid-19 patients since May, when it received a provisional clearance from regulators known as an emergency-use authorization. Emergency authorizations are used to quickly get experimental drugs to patients without other treatment options in the event of…
What’s New in the Guidelines
Last Updated: September 01, 2020
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Treatment Guidelines is published in an electronic format that can be updated in step with the rapid pace and growing volume of information regarding the treatment of COVID-19.
The COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel (the Panel) is committed to updating this document to ensure that health care providers, patients, and policy experts have the most recent information regarding the optimal management of COVID-19 (see the Panel Roster for a list of Panel members).
New Guidelines sections and recommendations and updates to existing Guidelines sections are developed by working groups of Panel members. All recommendations included in the Guidelines are endorsed by a majority of Panel members (see the Introduction for additional details on the Guidelines development process).
Major revisions to the Guidelines within the last month are as follows:
September 1, 2020
The COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel’s Statement on the Emergency Use Authorization of Convalescent Plasma for the Treatment of COVID-19
The Food and Drug Administration issued an Emergency Use Authorization for COVID-19 convalescent plasma for the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Based on the available evidence, the Panel has determined the following:
- There are insufficient data to recommend either for or against the use of convalescent plasma for the treatment of COVID-19.
- Convalescent plasma should not be considered the standard of care for the treatment of patients with COVID-19.
- Prospective, well-controlled, adequately powered randomized trials are needed to determine whether convalescent plasma is effective and safe for the treatment of COVID-19. Members of the public and health care providers are encouraged to participate in these prospective clinical trials.
August 27, 2020
Key Updates to the Guidelines
Chloroquine or Hydroxychloroquine With or Without Azithromycin
To reflect the results of large randomized controlled trials that enrolled hospitalized patients, the following recommendations have been updated to differentiate between hospitalized and nonhospitalized patients:
- The Panel recommends against the use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients (AI).
- In nonhospitalized patients, the Panel recommends against the use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19, except in a clinical trial (AI).
Interleukin-6 Inhibitors
Preliminary, unpublished data from randomized controlled trials have not demonstrated the efficacy of sarilumab or tocilizumab in patients with COVID-19. The data on the efficacy of siltuximab in patients with COVID-19 are limited and come from unpublished studies. The Panel’s recommendation on using interleukin (IL)-6 inhibitors for the treatment of COVID-19 has been revised:
- The Panel recommends against the use of anti-IL-6 receptor monoclonal antibodies (e.g., sarilumab, tocilizumab) or an anti-IL-6 monoclonal antibody (siltuximab) for the treatment of COVID-19, except in a clinical trial (BI).
New Sections of the Guidelines
Ivermectin
A new subsection was added to Potential Antiviral Drugs Under Evaluation for the Treatment of COVID-19 to address the use of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19. The Panel recommends against the use of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19, except in a clinical trial (AIII).
Special Considerations in Adults and Children with Cancer
Patients who are receiving active treatment for cancer have a higher risk of severe complications from COVID-19 than patients without cancer. These complications include a greater risk of mortality and a greater likelihood of being admitted to the intensive care unit. This new section provides recommendations for screening asymptomatic cancer patients for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The Panel also emphasizes the importance of consulting a hematologist or oncologist before adjusting a patient’s cancer-directed therapy. Decisions about administering cancer-directed therapies to patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection should be made on a case-by-case basis; clinicians should consider the indication for chemotherapy, the goals of care, and the patient’s history of tolerance to the treatment.
Other Updates to the Guidelines
Potential Antiviral Drugs Under Evaluation for the Treatment of COVID-19
Table 2a has been removed from the guidelines. The summaries of the clinical data for each antiviral agent are now included in new subsections that can be found under the individual drug sections.
Special Considerations in Pregnancy
This section has been updated to include the most recent epidemiological data for COVID-19 in pregnant people in the United States. This section also provides additional guidance on maternal and fetal monitoring in hospitalized patients who are pregnant and who have received a diagnosis of COVID-19. The Panel recommends that potentially effective treatment for COVID-19 should not be withheld from pregnant women because of theoretical concerns related to safety during pregnancy (AIII).
Other Sections
The following sections have been updated to include new data from clinical trials and observational cohort studies: