Free at-home COVID tests are coming back. How and when to get yours

Free at-home COVID-19 tests are coming back in September.
Near the end of September, each household will be able to order four rapid tests through the COVIDtests.gov portal, to be delivered by the U.S. Postal Service.
During a media briefing last week, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the tests will be able to detect more recent COVID-19 variants and will be good through the end of the year.
If you still have at-home tests, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has a website where you can look to see if yours is still good, even though the expiration date has passed. Many of the expirations have been extended.
Health experts are also promoting the need for vaccines and say the best way to prevent spread of COVID-19 is to be vaccinated. For most people, September and October are the ideal months, in order to be protected going into the winter respiratory ills season. The CDC suggests people get their seasonal flu vaccine and COVID-19 booster or initial vaccine at the same time.
Winter is a three-threat season, with RSV, influenza and COVID-19 apt to circulate at the same time, though all three could be around at any time. Here are the recommendations:
Updated COVID-19 vaccines are recommended for everyone 6 months and older. Those who are immune-compromised and not currently vaccinated are urged not to wait. For most others, September and October are deemed the best time to get the vaccine.
That includes pregnant women, those who are breastfeeding and those trying to become pregnant, says CDC, which called the vaccine safe. People who are pregnant are more likely to become very sick from COVID-19 or experience pregnancy complications compared to those who are not pregnant.
The CDC said risks include preterm birth or stillbirth.
The vaccination of pregnant women also provides some protection from COVID-19 for babies while they are too young to be vaccinated.
Children 6 months to 4 years who were never vaccinated need two doses of the new Moderna vaccine or three doses of the new Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. If the child previously had a dose of either vaccine, that child needs doses that would bring vaccination to the level of two doses of Moderna or three of Pfizer.
Children ages 5 and older are current when they have one dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Those who are immune-compromised may be counseled to get an extra dose of vaccine. But most, including those 65 and older, will only need one dose of the updated vaccine.
The respiratory syncytial virus vaccine is recommended for adults ages 50 to 74 who may have increased risk of severe RSV. That includes folks with chronic heart or lung disease, a weak immune system or who live in a nursing home. Recommended time is late summer or early fall.
Everyone 75 and older is urged to get an RSV shot, according to the CDC.
It’s not considered an annual vaccine right now, so do it once and you’re done for a while unless something in the recommendation changes.
How long do the vaccines last? According to the CDC, they should last around two winter seasons. GSK’s Arexvy is protective up to two years, as is Pfizer’s Abrysvbo. Moderna’s mResvia is protective for 19 months.
The influenza vaccine is an annual vaccination, recommended by the CDC for everyone 6 months and older, with rare exception. Most people should have it by the end of October.
Vaccination is especially important for those at high risk of serious complications, according to the CDC, including young children, pregnant people, those with chronic conditions like heart or lung disease and those 65 and older.
Children younger than 6 months are too little to be vaccinated, but they are high-risk, too, so those who care for them should be vaccinated instead, the public health agency reports.