Americans can order free COVID-19 tests this month

WASHINGTON (AP) — Starting this month, Americans can order free COVID-19 test kits which are sent to them by mail.

US households can order up to four nasal swabs from COVIDTests.gov when the federal program will resume. The U.S. Health and Human Services Administration, which oversees the program, has not yet given an exact date when ordering can begin.

An agency spokesman said the tests would detect current virus strains and could be ordered before the holiday season when families and friends gather for celebrations.

US regulators approved last month an updated COVID-19 vaccine designed to combat the latest strains of the virus and hopefully the upcoming winter strains. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already recommended the vaccine for everyone 6 months of age and older this fall.

While most Americans have some level of immunity due to past infection, vaccination, or both, that protection is waning. Pictures from last autumn targeted a different part of the coronavirus family tree, a strain that is no longer in circulation.