The Mills administration will be mailing 125,000 free COVID-19 tests to vulnerable Mainers.
That’s thanks to a $7.45 million partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation between Maine and five other states — Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico and Ohio.
Under this partnership, Project Access COVID Tests, 25,000 packages of five rapid nasal swab tests will be mailed free of charge to eligible Mainers who meet the criteria of social vulnerability as determined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s social vulnerability index, as well as whether they live in areas with low vaccination rates and limited access to testing.
Mainers in a quarter of ZIP codes are eligible under that criteria.
Mainers can visit the Project ACT website, AccessCovidTests.org, to enter their ZIP code to determine their eligibility.
The tests will be mailed through Amazon.
“Having convenient access to affordable, fast testing is an important tool to limit the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health of Maine people as we go about our daily lives,” Gov. Janet Mills said Friday.
This comes as the contagious omicron variant has fueled rising infections across the country, stressing hospitals and access to COVID-19 testing. The Biden administration this month began sending free COVID-19 tests to Americans.