Mass distribution of home COVID tests to begin next week

A COVID-19 rapid antigen home test kit in Jerusalem on January 9, 2022. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
A COVID-19 rapid antigen home test kit in Jerusalem on January 9, 2022. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

Between 25 million and 30 million free home antigen COVID tests will be handed out to Israeli citizens starting next week, say Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz.

The distribution of tests will be aimed at the most vulnerable and needy, including schoolchildren, residents of old age homes, families who receive welfare assistance and students in higher education.

In the first wave of distribution, each student in the education system will receive a set of six home tests, with another round of delivery possible.

“The government is looking for any way to help Israeli citizens get through the Omicron wave,” Bennett says. “We have decided to provide free tests to Israeli citizens, students and the general population… in order to keep the economy as functional as possible and to overcome, together, the peak of the wave.”

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