Fox News confirmed that the Biden administration had signed a contract to supply 500 million COVID-19 free tests to Americans. In coordination with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense awarded the $51.6million contract to Goldbelt Security, LLC, Newport News, Virginia, for the delivery of COVID-19 over-the-counter test kits.
According to the Defense Department, the purchase was made through the American Rescue Plan Act. This law provides medical resources to various parts of the country. Additional contracts will be awarded. Tests will come from many providers and distributors. Defense.gov will share more information about the purchase of the tests once it is available.
In December, President Biden declared that 500 million coronavirus test results had been ordered by his administration. These tests would be available free of charge in January.
Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary, stated Tuesday that the website for ordering the tests will be available once the tests are available.
After noting that the Request for Proposal was closed to contractors Tuesday, Psaki stated that “the first delivery by manufacturers will begin later this month — it’s our expectation.” She said, “When we have these deliveries in hand we will put up the website, make it accessible so that people can order testing at that time in their lives.”
Psaki stated that the first shipment of test kits would arrive in January. However, reporters asked her for details about how many tests she would include in that shipment. The holiday season saw testing shortages that hit the nation hard due to the high-contagious Omicron variant.
