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 The batch of free tests are aimed at easing a shortage of COVID-19
tests across the country amid increased demand during the rapid
spread of the Omicron variant.
The U.S. government has contracted already for more than 420 million
tests, the White House said.
President Joe Biden has pledged to procure 1 billion free tests for
Americans, and more may be ordered in the future. "We're not saying
we're stopping there," one senior administration official told
reporters on a conference call.
The administration also plans to launch a phone line for people who
do not have access to the web to order tests.
Once ordered, the tests will ship to U.S. households by the U.S.
Postal Service. Each household is limited to four masks.
American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein said the
union had agreed to allow the USPS to use up to 7,000 temporary
workers to label and package the test kits at 43 existing
facilities. Many of those are holiday workers being held over for
the project.
The kits could be mailed to as many as 160 million U.S. addresses,
Dimondstein said. The USPS has already brought in some labeling
machines. “We’re off and running,” Dimondstein said.
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 The Biden administration has
contracted for more than 420 million tests and
additional contracts will be awarded over the
coming weeks, the White House said. It expects
to pay some $4 billion to cover the first 500
million tests Biden promised, the administration
official said.
Fighting the pandemic is one of Biden's top
priorities and its persistence, coupled with
fatigue among the public, has hurt his approval
ratings roughly a year after he took office
promising to do a better job of taming the virus
than his predecessor, former President Donald
Trump.
Critics have said that while the administration
focused its attention on getting Americans
vaccinated, it did not do enough to encourage
mask-wearing and spur testing, a deficit the
White House has seemed to try to address with
the at-home test deliveries and a pledge to get
more masks out to the public as well.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and David Shepardson;
Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)
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