More Free At-Home COVID-19 Tests: How To Get Yours In NJ

NEW JERSEY — Households in New Jersey can order up to four additional free rapid antigen coronavirus tests beginning this week.

Orders are able to begin this week for the additional four tests, separate from the four tests households were able to previously order in January.

The federal government bought 500 million COVID-19 rapid tests in December in response to criticism over a low inventory of at-home tests and long lines at testing sites. President Joe Biden ordered another 500 million tests, bringing the total to 1 billion.

Americans must provide only their names and addresses — no insurance or credit card is required — to receive the COVID-19 tests. There’s no shipping fee.

New Jersey residents need to plan ahead to have the rapid COVID-19 tests on hand before they need them — whether as part of test-to-stay protocols in workplaces, or after potential exposure to COVID-19. Orders will be shipped within seven to 12 days, according to the USPS.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends at-home testing for people who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms five days after a potential exposure. Those symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, respiratory symptoms and muscle aches.

“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,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement.

Biden's administration says it's been working closely with the U.S. Postal Service, which reports one- to three-day delivery of first-class mail in the continental United States, to set up the website and ensure the tests can be delivered quickly.

Orders for the additional tests can be placed by visiting COVIDtests.gov.