WASHINGTON — Starting in September, Americans will be able to order free covid-19 testing kits that will be shipped to their homes.
American households will be able to order as many as four nasal samples on COVIDTests.gov when the federal program reopens. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the program, has not yet given an exact date when ordering can begin.
An agency spokesperson has said the tests will detect current strains of the virus and can be ordered before the holiday season, when families and friends gather to celebrate.
US regulators approved last month an updated COVID-19 vaccine designed to fight the latest strains of the virus and, hopefully, this coming winter as well. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already recommended the fall shot for everyone 6 months and older.
While most Americans have some degree of immunity from previous infections or vaccinations or both, that protection is waning. Last autumn’s pictures targeted another part of the coronavirus family tree, a strain that no longer circulates.
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