How to Get Free COVID Tests in Bulk for Your Community

The government recently shut down the program that would mail four free COVID tests to anyone who requested them, but a lesser-known program for community groups is still running. If you have a plan to distribute tests for free, you can request them by the hundreds. 

Individual COVID tests are no longer available by mail for free

Just to bring everyone up to speed: The government program that sent free COVID tests through covidtests.gov is not currently taking orders. A message on that page states that “Tests ordered before 8:00 PM EDT, Sunday, March 9, 2025, will be shipped.” This is the program that would send a package of four tests, per household, per round of the program. There were several rounds, the last one beginning in September 2024.

There’s no indication of whether the program may resume at some later date. Some news articles had stated or speculated that the government’s stockpile of COVID tests was going to be destroyed, but so far there has been no confirmation that any usable tests are being destroyed.

If you, personally, need a free test, you can try these locators to find places that provide government-funded COVID tests: 

• HRSA health center locator 

• Test-to-treat locations 

• ICATT testing locations (free if you are uninsured and have been exposed to COVID)

Community groups can request bulk orders of COVID tests for free

While the program for individuals has shut down, a lesser-known one for community groups is still going strong. There isn’t an official government website that explains the program or provides an order form, but mutual aid groups have been passing around a spreadsheet and instructions for requesting tests from a government email address. 

For example, this Instagram post from Clean Air KC includes several comments from groups who placed successful orders and are sharing information about the brands, expiration dates, and even the size of the boxes they come in. Reportedly, the minimum order is 300 tests. Clean Air KC has successfully placed orders of 3,000 tests, and a person from that group also showed me a thank-you note from someone who used their information about the program to place an order of, and receive, 360 tests.

How to request free COVID tests in bulk

Officially, the way to get information about this program is by emailing tdx@hhs.gov. I didn’t get a response when I reached out to that address, but I did hear back from the media contact for the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, which maintains COVID test stockpiles. They confirmed today (March 14, 2025) that the program is still running, and that any community group with a plan to distribute the tests for free “can request a one-time or recurring shipment of 400 over-the-counter tests for free distribution.” 

It's unclear if 400 is a new minimum, or just a recommended amount. My contact at Clean Air KC said that they placed an order for 3,000 this week, after the USPS individual test program shut down, and received confirmation that the requested tests are on the way. 

To order tests, send an email to tdx@hhs.gov with the following information:

• The number of tests you’re requesting

• The address to send them to

• Contact information for the person receiving the tests

• The name or purpose of your group 

Food banks, libraries, faith based organizations and others can request tests, but so can informal groups so long as they intend to distribute the tests for free. You cannot resell tests received through this program.

Groups have been using this spreadsheet as an order form, although it’s not clear if the spreadsheet is strictly necessary. Older web pages from nursing home organizations (like this one) describe a similar program that required requesters to be long term care facilities with CLIA certification or a CLIA waiver, but this appears to be no longer necessary. ASPR confirmed to me that “any organization” that agrees to distribute the tests for free can order them.

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