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The White House is looking to address nationwide shortages of Covid-19 tests and Americans can request free tests from the federal website. It will start accepting orders on Wednesday, but supplies will be limited to just 4 free Covid-19 tests per home. The website COVIDTests.gov will start providing tests at no cost and no shipping fee on 19^th January 2022. President Joe Biden announced last month that the U.S. would purchase 500 million at-home tests to launch the program after facing criticism for low inventory and long lines for testing. He announced on Thursday that the US government is doubling the order to 1 billion tests. But Americans shouldn’t expect a rapid turnaround on the orders and they will have to plan ahead and request the tests well before they meet federal guidelines.

The White House said tests will typically ship within 7-12 days of ordering through the US Postal Service, which reports shipping times of 1-3 days for its first-class package service in the continental United States. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommends at-home testing when experiencing COVID-19 systems including fever, cough, sore throat, respiratory symptoms, and muscle aches, 5 days after potential Covid-19 exposure, or as part of test-to-stay protocols in schools and workplaces. CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said, “Certainly if you’re going to gather with family if you’re going to a gathering where people are immunocompromised or where they’re elderly or where you have people who might be unvaccinated or poorly protected from a vaccine that might be an opportunity you want to test”.

The health officials have emphasized that the federal website is just one way for people to procure Covid-19 tests. Starting on Saturday, private insurance companies will be required to cover the cost of at-home rapid tests. It would allow Americans to be reimbursed for tests they purchase at pharmacies and online retailers. That covers up to 8 tests per month. The White House said the 4-test limit on website orders will be applied to each residential address and will apply to the first tranche of 500 million tests. The cost of purchasing and distributing for the first block of tests is estimated at $4 billion. The White House officials said they are cognizant that any launch of a website carries some risks but they are well-positioned to handle expected demand for tests.