The federal government recently shut down the program that might mail 4 free COVID exams to anybody who requested them, however a lesser-known program for neighborhood teams remains to be working. When you have a plan to distribute exams free of charge, you possibly can request them by the lots of.
Particular person COVID exams are not accessible by mail free of charge
Simply to convey everybody in control: The government program that sent free COVID tests by means of covidtests.gov shouldn’t be at present taking orders. A message on that web page states that “Checks ordered earlier than 8:00 PM EDT, Sunday, March 9, 2025, will probably be shipped.” That is this system that might ship a package deal of 4 exams, per family, per spherical of this system. There have been a number of rounds, the final one starting in September 2024.
There’s no indication of whether or not this system might resume at some later date. Some information articles had said or speculated that the federal government’s stockpile of COVID exams was going to be destroyed, however thus far there was no affirmation that any usable exams are being destroyed.
In case you, personally, want a free take a look at, you possibly can attempt these locators to search out locations that present government-funded COVID exams:
Whereas this system for people has shut down, a lesser-known one for neighborhood teams remains to be going sturdy. There isn’t an official authorities web site that explains this system or supplies an order type, however mutual help teams have been passing round a spreadsheet and directions for requesting exams from a authorities e-mail tackle.
For instance, this Instagram post from Clean Air KC contains a number of feedback from teams who positioned profitable orders and are sharing details about the manufacturers, expiration dates, and even the scale of the packing containers they arrive in. Reportedly, the minimal order is 300 exams. Clear Air KC has efficiently positioned orders of three,000 exams, and an individual from that group additionally confirmed me a thank-you observe from somebody who used their details about this system to position an order of, and obtain, 360 exams.
Easy methods to request free COVID exams in bulk
Formally, the way in which to get details about this program is by emailing [email protected]. I didn’t get a response after I reached out to that tackle, however I did hear again from the media contact for the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, which maintains COVID take a look at stockpiles. They confirmed right now (March 14, 2025) that this system remains to be working, and that any neighborhood group with a plan to distribute the exams free of charge “can request a one-time or recurring cargo of 400 over-the-counter exams free of charge distribution.”
It is unclear if 400 is a brand new minimal, or only a really useful quantity. My contact at Clear Air KC stated that they positioned an order for 3,000 this week, after the USPS particular person take a look at program shut down, and obtained affirmation that the requested exams are on the way in which.
To order exams, ship an e-mail to [email protected] with the next info:
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The variety of exams you’re requesting
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The tackle to ship them to
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Contact info for the individual receiving the exams
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The identify or goal of your group
Meals banks, libraries, religion primarily based organizations and others can request exams, however so can casual teams as long as they intend to distribute the exams free of charge. You can’t resell exams obtained by means of this program.
Teams have been utilizing this spreadsheet as an order type, though it’s not clear if the spreadsheet is strictly obligatory. Older net pages from nursing dwelling organizations (like this one) describe an analogous program that required requesters to be long run care services with CLIA certification or a CLIA waiver, however this seems to be not obligatory. ASPR confirmed to me that “any group” that agrees to distribute the exams free of charge can get them organized.
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