SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As Sacramento residents have started ordering their four free government-issued COVID-19 tests, many have already faced issues as they have attempted to place an order.
In December, President Joe Biden announced that the federal government would buy half a billion COVID-19 rapid test kits and distribute them at no cost to people to use at home.
Starting Jan. 18, the Biden administration started taking orders for these free at-home COVID tests. Each household can only place one order of four free at-home tests.
These tests are estimated to ship through USPS within 7-12 days of ordering them.
Troubleshooting USPS error messages:
- "Tests have already been ordered for this address"
- USPS advises customers to check with others in their household to determine if someone else has already placed an order for their residential address.
- Only one order of four at-home COVID-19 tests can be placed for each residential address.
- "We could not validate your address"
- According to USPS, because the address entered is not recognized as a delivery address, customers must confirm the proper formatting of their address by utilizing USPS Lookup a ZIP Code.
- "We could not validate your address as complete"
- If you receive this error message, USPS says that you may have forgotten to enter your suite or apartment number. Once you validate your address using USPS Look Up a ZIP Code, you may then attempt ordering your at-home COVID-19 tests again.
- "The address you entered is listed as a business address"
- The free at-home COVID-19 tests are only available to those with residential addresses or residential PO Boxes. Unfortunately, those with businesses addresses or business PO boxes are unable to order their free at-home tests.
If you still are unable to validate your address or believe you have falsely received an error message, you can file a Service Request.
If you are not able to order tests online due to internet access issues:
According to USPS, if you do not have internet access, people may place an order over the phone by calling the Covidtests.org test kit order helpline at 1-800-232-0233.
If you are experiencing USPS website difficulties:
USPS advises those experiencing difficulty with the website to either switch to a different browser or clear their web browser cache and/or cookies.
If you are unable to order your free at-home COVID-19 tests through USPS, here are other ways you can get tested for free in the Sacramento region:
- Free COVID-19 testing sites
- A list of free testing sites across the Sacramento region can be found HERE.
- Free at-home COVID-19 tests covered by insurance
- As of Jan. 15, private insurance companies and health plans are required to cover the cost of eight over-the-counter at-home tests per issued person, per month.
