The federal government will once again supply free COVID-19 test kits to individuals in the U.S. as a precaution for the upcoming respiratory virus season in fall and winter, health officials confirmed on Friday.

According to Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, orders can be placed on the site COVIDtest.gov starting in late September. Households can request up to four tests, which will be mailed directly to them.

“Make sure to utilize these free tests if you suspect that you or a loved one may have COVID,” O’Connell urged. “They won’t help anyone if they just sit unused in your medicine cabinet.”

She noted that these tests are effective at identifying the currently prevalent variants. As of this Friday, the subvariant KP.3.1.1 accounted for nearly 37% of COVID-19 cases, while KP.3 represented over 16%, as reported by the CDC.

This marks the seventh time the government has provided free test kits in the last three years, as per O’Connell. Through a collaboration with the U.S. Postal Service, approximately 900 million home tests have been distributed via this initiative.

The announcement follows the recent approval by the Food and Drug Administration for updated COVID-19 vaccine formulations from Pfizer and Moderna. These vaccines are set to arrive at distribution locations nationwide shortly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises this year’s vaccines for everyone aged 6 months and older, targeting the JN.1 subvariant KP.2.

In preparation for the season, the CDC is also allocating $62 million from “unused vaccine contract money” to assist local and state health departments in providing updated vaccines for those who are uninsured or underinsured, a spokesperson from the agency disclosed.

This funding is expected to offset the end of the $1.1 billion Bridge Access Program, which concludes on August 31. This program provided uninsured and underinsured individuals in the U.S. with free COVID-19 vaccines and successfully administered shots to 1.5 million people since its inception last September.

COVID-19 cases have been increasing this summer, with hospitalizations escalating from 1.1 per 100,000 people at the start of May to 4.4 by the beginning of August. The number of related deaths has also seen an uptick during this timeframe.

Reported by: Karen Weintraub, YSL News; Reuters