Some people trying to get a free, at-home COVID testing package from the government delivered to large apartment buildings have been turned down and told a kit has already been ordered to their address.
Several Americans took to social media to voice their frustration with glitch.
‘At home COVID-19 tests have already been ordered for this address,’ is the message some users received when they tried to order a kit from the website, COVIDTests.gov. ‘Our records show that at-home COVID-19 tests have already been ordered for this address. We are unable to process duplicate orders for the same address.’
Then it gives users the option to check the address and to see Frequently Asked Questions for more information.
The website is the means for people to order one of one billion COVID tests President Joe Biden promised would be made available for free for Americans. The site was scheduled to go live on Wednesday but was discovered to be active on Tuesday, causing a rush of orders.
The U.S. Postal Service, which is delivering the ordered tests, called it a glitch happening to a ‘very limited’ number of people.
‘The Postal Service is seeing very limited cases of addresses that are not registered as multi-unit buildings which could lead to COVID test kit ordering difficulties. This is occurring in a small percentage of orders. For assistance in the ordering process the USPS recommends filing a service request or contacting our help desk at 1-800-ASK-USPS, to help address the issue,’ the agency said in a statement.
President Joe Biden promised one billion free at-home COVID tests for Americans but some users are having trouble ordering them on the government’s website
The message some users are receiving when trying to order free COVID tests
The issue raises concerns about access for the millions of Americans who live in apartment buildings and other multi-unit dwellings – many of whom are of lower income.
Equity to the vaccine and testing has been a priority for the Biden administration.
Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who represents part of New York City, took to Twitter to advise people to find a work around by looking up exactly how their address is listed by the postal service.
Several users on Twitter also complained that they couldn’t order their free tests because their roommate beat them to it – an issue critics pointed out when the Biden administration announced their plan.
Several user took to Twitter to complain about their problems ordering the free COVID tests
The site allows Americans to order up to four tests per residential address. Some critics argue that may not be enough for those who live in large households or who have multiple generations living under one roof.
The kits will not start shipping until late in January, according to a message sent to users who were able to get their order in.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday the site was operating at limited capacity and was in ‘beta testing’ to work out any glitches ahead of Wednesday’s formal launch.
‘It will officially launch tomorrow morning,’ she said yesterday. ‘It’s in the beta testing phase right now.’
The Biden administration opened its website for free at-home tests without fanfare on Tuesday
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the COVID testing website was undergoing ‘beta testing’ head of an official launch on Wednesday
‘Every website launch in our view comes with risk. We can’t guarantee there won’t be a bug or two,’ Psaki said. ‘But the best tech teams across the administration and the Postal Service are working hard to make this a success.’
Traffic to the site surged as news of the soft launch spread, hitting as many 750,000 users and representing more than half of all traffic to administration websites at one point.
Government websites haven’t always worked as planned.
HealthCare.gov, which is the open enrollment site for Obamacare, crashed on its first day.
