As summer ends and authorities begin to roll out preparations for this year’s respiratory virus season, health officials in the US have announced that households across the country will be offered free COVID-19 tests in the coming fall and winter.

In a CDC press briefing on August 23, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell said: “ASPR’s [Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response] free at-home COVID-19 test delivery program will re-open in late September.”

“As families start to move indoors this fall […] they will once again have the opportunity to order up to four new COVID-19 tests free of charge and have them sent directly to their homes,” said O’Connell. “Taking a quick test is a great way for all of us to keep our friends, family, and loved ones protected as we gather to celebrate the holidays.”

The at-home testing program has been put into use six times previously, with over 900 million tests sent out since 2021. While ordering is currently closed, O’Connell explained that the tests will be available to order at COVIDtests.gov. 

Paxlovid, a combination of two antiviral medications used to treat COVID-19, will also be made available for free both for those on Medicare and Medicaid and for people who are uninsured.

With the CDC predicting that the number of hospitalizations due to the virus may be similar, or slightly less, compared to last year, Director Mandy Cohen said: “It’s important to stay vigilant and to use the tools we have to keep ourselves safe and healthy.”

Sticking to that message, the FDA announced the day before the CDC briefing that it had approved and granted emergency use authorization for updated mRNA COVID vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

The formulae of the vaccines have been altered in order to target currently circulating variants of the virus – specifically, KP.2, one of the Omicron-descended FLiRT variants that popped up earlier this year.

“These updated vaccines meet the agency’s rigorous, scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality,” said Dr Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a statement.

The authorization comes amidst CDC estimates that the number of COVID-19 infections is likely to be growing in 27 US states, with another of the FLiRT variants, KP.3, and its offshoot, KP.3.1.1, currently circulating as the dominant variants of the virus.

“Given waning immunity of the population from previous exposure to the virus and from prior vaccination, we strongly encourage those who are eligible to consider receiving an updated COVID-19 vaccine to provide better protection against currently circulating variants,” concluded Marks.