Free Covid-19 tests will be available from the US government by the end of September

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN

(CNN) — The US government plans to make more at-home Covid-19 tests available for free this month as the country heads into respiratory virus season with high levels of the coronavirus already circulating.

Each household will be able to order another round of four free at-home test kits starting at the end of September at COVIDTests.gov.

More than 900 million test kits have been delivered directly to US residents through the COVIDTests.gov program, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

“COVID-19 testing can help you know if you have COVID-19 so you can decide what to do next, like getting treatment to reduce your risk of severe illness and taking steps to lower your chances of spreading the virus to others,” the agency said.

This next set of tests – the program’s seventh round of distribution – will be able to detect currently circulating variants and can be used as people prepare for year-end holiday gatherings.

“The best plan going into this winter is for everyone to remain vigilant, to use the tools we have: vaccines, testing, treatment against the illnesses responsible for the majority of fall and winter deaths and hospitalizations,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Friday.

The CDC also recommends that everyone ages 6 months or older receive an updated Covid-19 vaccine this season to stay up to date.

This year, there are multiple options available; mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer were updated to target KP.2, one of the so-called FLiRT variants that have been dominant in the US since May. Those vaccines are for people 6 months and older. A more traditional protein vaccine from Novavax is also available, but it targets JN.1, a variant that is still circulating but less prominently than a few months ago. The Novavax vaccine is approved only for those ages 12 and up.

The updated Covid-19 vaccines are available now at pharmacies across the US and can be received at the same time as the annual flu vaccine.

CNN’s Brenda Goodman contributed to this report.

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