covid tests

Free, At-Home USPS COVID Tests From the Government Are No Longer Available

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If you haven't ordered them yet, it's too late.

A program that delivers free, at-home COVID tests to every U.S. household via United States Postal Service officially came to an end Friday, a statement on the program's website reads.

"Ordering through the free at-home test program was suspended on Friday, September 2 because Congress hasn’t provided additional funding to replenish the nation’s stockpile of tests," the statement says.

A similar message posted to the USPS website echoed that, with "This program is not currently accepting orders for free at-home COVID-19 tests."

The government announced last weekend that the program, which mailed individuals across the nation up to eight tests each, would be suspended due to a lack of funding.

Chicago's top doctor said the moves appear to be part of a shift to treat COVID like other viral illnesses.

"I think what we're seeing here is a phasing out of considering COVID different from other illnesses, right?" Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said during a press conference Thursday. "We have really gotten used to, as a country, COVID treatments, COVID vaccines, COVID testing has been free, right? It has been outside of our traditional healthcare system. The feds have really purchased and paid for all of that. And, you know, with the decisions on the federal level not to allocate additional funding for COVID, what we will see is a transition, I think, to treat COVID like we treat other illnesses, which means there will still be COVID tests being manufactured, but you'll get them through your insurance more likely."

Here's what to know if you already ordered tests but you haven't received them, what to know about test expiration dates and more.

What If I Ordered Tests Before the Deadline? Will I Still Receive Them?

According to the program's website, "all orders placed before Sept. 2 will be fulfilled by the USPS." If you run into an issue, the program recommends reaching out to the postal service.

Will the Program Be Reinstated?

According to the program website, mailing out tests were suspended due to funding.

"If Congress provides funding to replenish the nation’s stockpile of tests, we will work to resume distribution of free tests through COVID.gov/Tests," the site reads.

How to Find Your Test's Expiration Dates

According to the FDA, all at-home COVID tests, including the free ones sent by the USPS, are only good to use through a certain date.

However, "most COVID-19 Home Test Kits have received expiration extensions from the FDA," COVID.gov says.

"The shelf-life is how long the test should perform as expected and is measured from the date the test was manufactured," the FDA says. "The expiration date listed on the box label for at-home COVID-19 tests 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."

Typically, the FDA authorizes an at-home COVID shelf-life of about four to six months from the time the test was made, the agency says.

However, once the test manufacturer has more "stability testing results," such as 12 or 18 months, the test manufacturer can contact the FDA to request that the agency authorize a longer shelf-life.

According to the FDA, stability testing is "where the manufacturer stores the tests for the time period of the proposed shelf-life (plus a little extra time to ensure the expiration date can be relied upon) and then evaluates its ability to perform accurately."

Here's a look at all the at-home COVID tests the CDC says are approved by the FDA, and the shelf life of each kit.

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