Vermonters urged to order at-home COVID tests

A trail near Lake Pinneo in Quechee, Vt. (Gareth Henderson Photo)

Gov. Phil Scott on Thursday strongly encouraged Vermonters to order at-home, rapid COVID-19 tests at covidtests.gov.

This Biden Administration’s initiative – which launched this week – is similar to a program piloted by the State, according to a Thursday statement from the governor. Through this new federal program, each household is eligible to receive four tests, which are expected to ship within 7-12 days of ordering, state officials said. Supplies are limited. 

“Rapid at-home tests are a useful tool that will help us continue to move forward,” Scott said in the statement. “Vermont has worked hard to gain supply of these tests, and I appreciate President Biden’s recent efforts to do the same. The USPS website is up and running now, but federal supplies remain limited, so Vermonters should act fast.”

Any Vermonter without internet access can call the Governor’s Constituent Services Office at 802-828-3333. “My team will help complete the online request form for you,” the Governor continued.

The federal effort is similar to the state of Vermont’s pilot partnership with the National Institutes of Health, which sent 350,000 tests to Vermonters. Many of these tests have already arrived at Vermonters’ homes.

As the state awaits the arrival of an additional 150,000 tests it ordered for the pilot program, it is reevaluating the best use of these tests – including potentially allocating them directly to schools, child care programs and long-term care facilities – now that the general public has access to the new federal program.

Vermont is the national leader in both PCR testing and the distribution of at-home tests, according to state officials. They noted Vermont has consistently performed the most PCR tests per capita of any state. Since late December, the state has also distributed about one million at-home tests directly to Vermonters, schools, child care programs, long term care facilities and other community partners.

States’ access to supplies of at-home tests continues to be a challenge, and the state of Vermont will continue to work to acquire more. The nation’s governors are working with the federal government to improve coordination in procurement and distribution, according to the governor’s statement on Thursday.

— Gareth Henderson