--- title: Free Pills for Treating COVID-19 Will Soon Be Available at CVS, Walgreens and Other Drugstores description: President Biden said Americans can soon order more free at-home COVID-19 tests, and free pills for treating COVID will be available too. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and more than a dozen local and regional newspapers. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 499 covers: - Health and Wellness - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ published: '2022-03-02T19:23:11.000Z' modified: '2024-02-18T13:07:24.000Z' section: Health and Wellness tags: - Biden - covid-19 - News word_count: 707 canonical: https://money.com/free-pills-treating-covid-19-tests/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Covid Rapid Test Package Next To Pfizer Paxlovid Package](https://img.money.com/2022/03/News-Free-Covid-Test-Antiviral-Pills.jpg) The Biden administration is promising more free at-home COVID-19 tests for all Americans, and free antiviral coronavirus pills will soon be available as well. In his first State of the Union address since taking office, President Biden outlined his vision to move the country from COVID-19 crisis mode into “more normal routines.” As case counts drop to their lowest levels since last summer, the coronavirus took a backseat in Biden’s speech on Tuesday, making way for his plans to deal with [record-high inflation](https://money.com/inflation-highest-rate-in-america/) — especially due to [skyrocketing prices of gas](https://money.com/gas-prices-4-dollars-states/) and [vehicles](https://money.com/new-car-sales-above-sticker-price/) — the war in Ukraine and [its economic blowback](https://money.com/russia-ukraine-sanctions-inflation/). Still, Biden outlined several “common sense steps'' to further beat back the coronavirus. Notably, he unveiled another round of [free at-home COVID-19 tests](https://money.com/order-free-covid-tests-government/) for all Americans, as well as a new “Test to Treat” initiative that will distribute free antiviral COVID-19 pills through pharmacies. “Thanks to the progress we have made this past year, COVID-19 need no longer control our lives,” Biden said. “I cannot promise a new variant won’t come,” he said. “But I can promise you we’ll do everything within our power to be ready if it does.” Here’s a closer look at the latest free testing and treatment plans. In January, the White House launched [COVIDtests.gov](https://www.covidtests.gov/), a website that all Americans, regardless of health insurance status, could use to order free at-home coronavirus tests and get them shipped directly to their doorstep. The program initially provided four free tests per household. Once ordered, the USPS will deliver the tests, also for free, typically within seven to 12 days. Ahead of the website’s launch, Biden said his administration had procured one billion at-home tests for distribution. Hundreds of millions of those tests are still available. Biden announced on Tuesday that, starting next week, everyone will be able to place a second order through COVIDtests.gov or the federal hotline (800-232-0233). According to the government website, the second order will also be capped at four tests per household. No documentation is required to order the tests. Simply a name, address and, optionally, an email address to track the delivery, are all that’s needed. Additional at-home tests are available for free in the meantime. Through a separate White House program, privately insured Americans are eligible for up to [eight free at-home COVID-19 tests](https://money.com/covid-tests-covered-health-insurance/) per month — which are to be covered upfront or reimbursed by all health insurance providers. Folks on Medicare are not yet eligible [but will be sometime this spring](https://money.com/medicare-cover-covid-19-tests-spring/). Perhaps the biggest announcement, at least on the COVID-19 front, is the new “Test to Treat” program. Biden said millions of antiviral pills from Pfizer, used to treat COVID-19 symptoms and reduce hospitalization, will soon be available for free at many drugstores. “Pfizer is working overtime to get us a million pills this month and more than double that next month,” Biden said. Biden added that the new antiviral treatment, which has received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, can reduce the likelihood of ending up in the hospital due to a COVID-19 infection by 90%. “People can get tested at a pharmacy, and if they prove positive, receive antiviral pills on the spot at no cost,” the president said. After the speech, a White House official briefed reporters with more details, saying that major pharmacies like CVS, Walgreens and Kroger will start rolling out the program as early as this month. CVS and Walgreens confirmed to Money their participation but did not comment on when the program will launch. Kroger did not respond to our request for more information. All three chains are part of a government partnership called the “Federal Retail Pharmacy” program, in which thousands of drugstores across the country have been providing free vaccines and high-quality masks. It’s not yet clear whether the entire roster of Federal Retail Pharmacies, which also includes Walmart, Costco, Publix, Meijer, Hy-Vee and dozens others, will be participating in the new “Test to Treat” initiative. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/free-pills-treating-covid-19-tests/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Health and Wellness", "item": "https://money.com/health-and-wellness/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Medicine", "item": "https://money.com/medicine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Free Pills for Treating COVID-19 Will Soon Be Available at CVS, Walgreens and Other Drugstores" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/free-pills-treating-covid-19-tests/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/free-pills-treating-covid-19-tests/", "name": "Free Pills for Treating COVID-19 Will Soon Be Available at CVS, Walgreens and Other Drugstores", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-03-02T19:23:11.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/free-pills-treating-covid-19-tests/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/free-pills-treating-covid-19-tests/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-02-18T13:07:24.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Free Pills for Treating COVID-19 Will Soon Be Available at CVS, Walgreens and Other Drugstores", "articleSection": "Health and Wellness", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/03/News-Free-Covid-Test-Antiviral-Pills.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Free-Covid-Test-Antiviral-Pills" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. 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