A White House official told CNN that the federal government is ending its free at-home COVID-19 testing program this week, citing a lack of funding and efforts to maintain supplies before an expected decline in cases further deepens.
Both the White House and the website where people can claim their tests blamed Congress for failing to provide additional funding for the program, which has provided as many as 16 free tests to every family since the beginning of the year.
“Demand through this program will be held on Friday, September 2, because Congress has not provided additional funding to replenish the state’s stockpile of tests,” he said. COVID.gov The site reads.
The administration launched the initiative, which shipped rapid tests to Americans via the United States Postal Service, in January amid a flurry of Omicron variant cases and limited test availability.
However, officials have warned for months that without additional funding from Congress, the administration will be forced to roll back its COVID-19 response efforts.
“We have warned that Congress’ failure to act would force unacceptable trade-offs and harm our overall COVID-19 preparedness and response, and the consequences are likely to worsen over time,” the White House official told CNN. “Unfortunately, because of the limited funding we have to work with, we’ve had to make impossible choices about which tools and software to invest in, and which ones to downsize, pause, or end all together.”
However, the official said the administration “will promptly resume the distribution of free tests through COVIDTests.govIf and when Congress appropriates additional funding, but “until then, we believe booking the remaining tests for distribution later this year is the best course of action.”
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