CNN
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The U.S. government plans to make more free at-home Covid-19 tests available this month as the country enters respiratory virus season and the coronavirus is already circulating in large quantities.
Starting in late September, every household can order another round of four free home testing kits from COVIDTests.gov.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 900 million test kits have been delivered directly to U.S. citizens through the COVIDTests.gov program.
“A COVID-19 test can help you find out if you have COVID-19 so you can decide what to do next, such as getting treatment to reduce your risk of severe illness and taking steps to reduce the chance that you will spread the virus to others,” the agency said.
This next round of testing – the program’s seventh round of distribution – will help detect variants currently circulating and help people prepare for the year-end holidays.
“The best plan for this winter is for everyone to stay vigilant and use the tools we have at our disposal: vaccines, testing, treatments for the diseases that are responsible for the majority of deaths and hospitalizations this fall and winter,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Friday.
The CDC also recommends that everyone ages 6 months and older receive a current Covid-19 vaccine this season to stay up to date.
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This year, several options are available; mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer have been updated to combat KP.2, one of the so-called FLiRT variants that have been prevalent in the U.S. since May. These vaccines are intended for people 6 months and older. A more traditional protein vaccine from Novavax is also available, but targets JN.1, a variant that is still circulating but less prominent than it was a few months ago. The Novavax vaccine is only approved for people 12 years and older.
The updated Covid-19 vaccines are now available in pharmacies across the United States and can be received at the same time as the annual flu shot.
CNN’s Brenda Goodman contributed to this report.
