White House to start delivering at-home COVID tests "later this month"

The Biden administration is finalizing contracts to mail millions of at-home COVID-19 rapid tests "later this month," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.

Why it matters: President Biden began ramping up testing efforts after receiving widespread criticism for not making at-home tests widely available ahead of the emergence of the Omicron variant, which has driven up infections across the U.S.

• People struggled to find COVID tests ahead of the holidays and amid the explosion in cases, Axios' Shawna Chen writes.
• The administration announced in December it would purchase 500 million rapid tests and make them available for Americans to order to their home via a federal website.

What they're saying: "We're on track to start seeing movement on some of the awards through the RFP this week," Psaki said at a briefing Tuesday.

• The "first delivery for manufacturers will start later this month," she added.
• "We will put the website up and make it available so that people can order tests at that point in time."

Go deeper: America once again faces COVID test shortages