The government will again be sending out free COVID test to American households this fall, following a rise in cases this summer and an expected seasonal rise into wintertime.
While, of course, the peak of the coronavirus pandemic is behind us, cases are continuing to bubble across the country, causing illness and deaths. There was a wave of cases that built up at the tail-end of this summer, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show, and while it's significantly better than in previous years, we've learned we have to stay vigilant to keep the virus away.
We've also learned in the past few years that it's easier to spread COVID during the winter, when people gather more, for the holidays, and spend more time indoors in enclosed spaces, due to the cold. It's with that trend in mind that the government will be sending out free COVID-19 tests this fall.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
"As families start to move indoors this fall and begin spending time with their loved ones, both very old and very young, they will once again have the opportunity to order up to four new COVID-19 tests free of charge and have them sent directly to their homes," Dawn O'Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), told reporters, according to ABC News.
Households will be able to get four free COVID at-home tests, which will be able to detect current variants and can be used through the end of the year, the HHS says. You can order them through COVIDTests.gov.
However, you'll have to wait till "the end of September" to order them, and the government still has not announced an exact date when ordering will be live on the site. Please note, the COVID Tests site from the government can have trouble loading if it's getting too much traffic.
A COVID test costs as little as $10, so this amounts to savings of about $40. It's not a lot of cash, but you could feel better about putting it towards, say, a few Pumpkin Spice Lattes this fall. If you also consider the savings of not having to go to a doctor's office for a test, you just scored yourself a couple more lattes.
Other COVID precautions this fall
If testing is a way to keep others safe from COVID-19, keeping up with vaccines is a way to keep yourself safe. Updated vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer were approved by the FDA in August and are available around the country.
These vaccines are specifically updated to address a variant of COVID that caused the majority of infections this summer, according to Andy Pekosz, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The CDC recommends COVID vaccines for everyone 6 months and older, and Pekosz says the best time to get vaccinated, if you haven't had COVID in the past few months, is in mid-October, to tackle an expected rise in cases around the holidays. You can get a flu vaccine at the same time.
Health is wealth, and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Related content
-
Do You Feel Like Somebody’s Watching You? It's Your CarWhat's worse, you gave your vehicle manufacturer permission to watch you — no matter what you're doing. What are the car companies doing with that information?
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Logs Longest Losing Streak Since AprilThe November Producer Price Index showed that inflation remains a tough beast to tame.
-
Do You Feel Like Somebody’s Watching You? It's Your Car
What's worse, you gave your vehicle manufacturer permission to watch you — no matter what you're doing. What are the car companies doing with that information?
-
I Won’t Be Handing Out Gift Cards This Christmas. Here’s WhyGift cards are usually considered a safe bet at Christmas, but in these strained times, how can you be sure your gift won't go to waste?
-
Quicken Launches New Tool to Protect Your Financial Documents: Is it Worth It?If you're looking for a secure place to store your financial documents, Quicken's LifeHub offers you an easy and affordable way to do so.
-
CPI Report Casts Doubt on Rate Cuts in 2025: What the Experts Are Saying About InflationCPI November Consumer Price Index data sealed the deal for a December rate cut, but the outlook for next year is less certain.
-
Quiz: Test Your Financial LiteracyTry your hand at these three questions designed to gauge your knowledge of the ABCs of personal finance. In a survey, only 43% of Americans answered correctly.
-
How to Get the Maximum Social Security Check in 2025
The maximum Social Security check is $5,108 in 2025, up from $4,873 in 2024. Even if you don't qualify for the maximum monthly benefit, you can still increase your payments.
-
The Best Ways to Use Your Year-End Bonus (and the Worst)'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' shouldn't be anyone's go-to for financial advice, but it does remind us how not to spend a holiday bonus.
-
Never Talk About Money? For Women, That Can Spell DisasterHow can you plan for retirement when your husband holds the purse strings and talking about money is taboo? Help is at hand for this common problem for women.
