US Government Web Site to Order at Home COVID Tests Opens One Day Early-Jan. 18

Order Your Test Now at COVIDtests.gov

On Jan. 18, the American people can now order 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests. The tests will be completely free—there are no shipping costs and you don’t need to enter a credit card number. The new US government website went live a day early.

While COVIDTests.gov was expected to start accepting orders on Wednesday, an “Order free at-home tests” button was added Tuesday, which brings users to Usps.com/covidtests to order four at-home free tests.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday the site is in its beta phase to allow troubleshooting.

“So COVIDtest.gov is in the beta phase right now, which is a standard part of the process typically, as it’s being kind of tested in the early stages of being rolled out.”Every website launch, in our view, comes with risk – we can guarantee there won’t be a bug or two – but the best tech teams across the administration and the Postal Service are working hard to make this a success,” said Psaki.

The tests are part of the Biden administration’s purchase of 500 million tests last month to help tackle a record surge in infections. Orders are expected to ship in 7 to 12 days.

The 2020 Census reported 126.8 million U.S. households, so if 100 million households each order 4 tests, they will be sold out of the first batch. But nn Jan. 13, Biden announced he would double the federal government’s order to 1 billion tests

Anyone having troubles with the website on Jan. 18 can try again starting Jan. 19.