Last week I wrote about how the White House had to scramble to clarify Kamala Harris’ remarks on a Today show interview, where she said the Biden administration’s free COVID tests would be available soon.
“I think it’s going to be by next week,” the vice president told interviewer Craig Melvin. “But soon. Absolutely soon. And it is a matter of urgency for us.”
Later on that day, the White House issued a clarification that the “tests would be sent out to the country later this month.”
I can’t help but wonder if Harris spoke out of turn only slightly because on Friday, the White House issued a statement that a website for ordering free COVID tests would be up and running this week:
To help ensure Americans have tests on hand if a need arises, the Biden Administration is purchasing one billion at-home, rapid COVID-19 tests to give to Americans for free. A half-billion tests will be available for order on January 19th and will be mailed directly to American households.
There will be free tests available for every household, and to promote broad access, the initial program will allow four free tests to be requested per residential address. Starting January 19th, Americans will be able to order their tests online at COVIDTests.gov, and tests will typically ship within 7-12 days of ordering.
As I write this article, it’s Jan. 18, and the site is already online. I placed an order and received a confirmation email; it was a simple process with no hiccups. Going by their timeline, my tests won’t ship until sometime between Jan. 25 and Jan. 30. Several other family members and co-workers had similarly easy experiences ordering their tests.
Related: Here’s What Biden’s Failure to Order Enough COVID Tests Could Mean for You
So how did the White House actually have something ready a day early? USA Today‘s Maureen Groppe asked and received an answer:
The official called this "standard practice to address troubleshooting and ensure as smooth of an official launch tomorrow as possible."
The website is expected to officially launch mid-morning on Wednesday.
— Maureen Groppe (@mgroppe) January 18, 2022
The site details specifics about the tests:
The tests available for order:
- Are rapid antigen at-home tests, not PCR
- Can be taken anywhere
- Give results within 30 minutes (no lab drop-off required)
- Work whether or not you have COVID-19 symptoms
- Work whether or not you are up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines
- Are also referred to self-tests or over-the-counter (OTC) tests
There’s no word on what brand the tests are whether they’re Chinese-made or manufactured in the U.S.
Forgive me for being jaded, but I keep waiting for the federal government to screw this up in some way. I mean it is the Biden administration handling this initiative. After all, the ordering process takes place through the U.S. Postal Service, which doesn’t exactly have a stellar track record. I heard one Atlanta radio news reporter say she had issues placing her order, presumably because the site was overwhelmed, so I can envision others having similar issues.
In case you’ve forgotten what led us to this moment, Joe Biden committed to making hundreds of millions of tests available to Americans back in December as omicron was ramping up throughout the country. The problem with that promise was that the tests weren’t available and wouldn’t be until January, making a dent in the administration’s already beat-up reputation.
At the time, CNN wrote:
The inability to secure enough timely tests for the number of people who want them has led to a new reckoning for Biden’s Covid-19 response. An enhanced strategy that includes distributing 500 million free at-home tests didn’t come in time to prevent major disruptions to holiday travel, and it remains unclear when those tests will reach Americans who want them.
And test kits — both rapid tests and PCR tests — were hard to come by in stores, at pharmacies, and inside doctors’ offices nationwide, precisely when omicron raged through the populace. It wasn’t a good look, and I don’t think the current test availability will do too much to turn the Biden administration’s fortunes around.
I’ve asked family and friends to keep me posted on how quickly they receive their tests. We’ll see how this goes.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member