President Joe Biden’s administration has altered course and will now offer free COVID-19 tests to American households, beginning in January. 

The White House revealed the free at-home testing effort in a statement released early Tuesday, in an apparent U-turn following criticism of the administration’s choice not to implement a European-style free testing system. 

The Biden administration has announced that it will give Americans free, quick tests by purchasing and distributing half a billion at-home tests, and a website where anyone may obtain them.

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The White House said the tests would be “distributed for free to Americans who want them, with the initial delivery starting in January 2022. The Administration will build a website where Americans can go to get at-home tests delivered to their home—for free.”

This is a big change from previous testing plans, which did not include sending free at-home exams to American households. Jen Psaki, the White House Press Secretary, sparked outrage on December 6 when she appeared to dismiss the notion as too expensive.

NPR Political Correspondent Mara Liasson asked Psaki in the White House: “Why not just make them free and give them out to — and have them available everywhere?”

Psaki then responded with sarcasm, asking: “Should we just send one to every American?”

Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist who advised the Biden transition’s COVID-19 reaction, had called it “offensive and unbecoming of someone representing the White House.” “It’s like they want to appear like they’re doing something, but aren’t as concerned about actual impact.” In New Hampshire, 800,000 tests were ordered within a day of being made available for free to all citizens as part of a research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. 

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“For this next phase of the pandemic, rapid access to rapid testing will be key,” Nirav Shah, the director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control, said last week.  “We want to make sure that the supply is there to meet that demand.”