Trump Admin Reverses Decision to End Free COVID Test Program

livewell
February 19, 2025
Noah Bennett

The Trump administration has changed its decision to shut down the government website that provides free COVID tests to households. This reversal came late Tuesday, just before the planned shutdown, after The Washington Post reported that officials were considering ending the program and possibly disposing of millions of tests.

Initial Plans to End the Program

According to internal documents and federal officials, the administration had been reviewing the costs of either continuing to ship or disposing of more than 160 million COVID-19 testing equipment. The tests were worth over half a billion dollars, and only a small number had expired.

Earlier on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Andrew Nixon confirmed that the free test ordering website, COVIDtests.gov, would shut down at 8 p.m. However, he assured that the tests would not be destroyed immediately and would stay in storage until their expiration dates.

“With COVID-19 cases decreasing after a winter peak, we are shifting from government-distributed at-home COVID tests to the commercial market, as we have in the past,” Nixon said in his first statement.

But just 12 minutes before the shutdown, Nixon made another statement saying that COVIDtests.gov would remain open for now.

Reasons Behind the Shutdown Plan

Documents reviewed by The Washington Post showed that HHS employees were asked to identify COVID-19-related initiatives, projects, and web pages. This request was part of an effort to comply with a new executive order signed by President Trump.

The order reversed many of President Biden’s policies, including those focused on COVID-19 response and expanding testing supplies.

Two officials, who spoke anonymously, said they were unsure whether a final decision had been made regarding the stockpile of COVID-19 tests.

Former Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) Chief Dawn O’Connell, who served under Biden, explained that both options, keeping or destroying the tests, came with significant costs.

“Stockpiling the tests is expensive, but destroying them also costs a lot of money,” O’Connell said.

Political and Public Health Impact

The decision to keep the free testing program is another key moment in the ongoing COVID-19 response. The virus has remained a political and public health challenge for Trump since the pandemic began in 2020.

During his first term, Trump called himself a “wartime president” in response to the virus. However, he later became frustrated with public health officials, accusing them of trying to harm him politically by promoting lockdowns and strict measures.

Recently, Trump signed an executive order to end Biden-era vaccination mandates in schools and universities, further distancing himself from pandemic-related policies.

Experts Warn Against Destroying Tests

Many experts argue that destroying the unused tests would be a waste of taxpayer money.

“Destroying a resource paid for by the American people doesn’t make sense,” said Tom Inglesby, who led the White House’s COVID-19 testing efforts from 2021 to 2022.

He explained that testing is still essential for tracking COVID-19, treating patients, and protecting vulnerable individuals.

Ashish Jha, who led the White House COVID test policy from 2022 to 2023, also opposed getting rid of the stockpile.

“The virus is not a major public health threat right now,” Jha said. “But destroying the tests would be a mistake. It’s expensive, and we might need them if a new variant spreads.”

In The End

The decision to continue the COVIDtests.gov program ensures that Americans can still access free tests if needed. Experts believe this is a wise move in case the virus resurges.

The White House has not yet announced how long the program will remain available, but for now, free government COVID testing is still being shipped to households.