“Ordering through this program will be suspended on Friday, September 2 because Congress has not provided additional funding to replenish the nation’s test inventory,” the Covid.gov website states. The government launched the initiative, which sent rapid tests to Americans via the United States Postal Service, in January amid a wave of Omicron variant cases and limited test availability. But officials have warned for months that, absent additional funding from Congress, the administration would be forced to scale back efforts to deal with Covid-19. “We have warned that congressional inaction will force unacceptable compromises and harm our overall preparedness and response to COVID-19 — and that the consequences will likely worsen over time,” the White House official told CNN . “Unfortunately, due to the limited funding we have to work with, we’ve had to make difficult choices about which tools and programs to invest in – and which ones to scale back, stop or end all together.” However, the official said the administration will “quickly continue distributing free tests through COVIDTests.gov” if and when Congress appropriates additional funding, but “[u]Until then, we believe reserving the remaining tests for distribution later this year is the best course of action.”
