SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif — While not officially launching until later Wednesday, the federal government's new website to order at-home COVID tests went live on Tuesday: but not without some problems.
The site allows each household in the country to order four at-home Covid tests for free.
However, some applicants were, at least initially, denied their tests, after the US Postal Service failed to recognize their address.
"Hopefully this was a trial run, and they are figuring it out," said Janet Beach, who lives on a boat off Shelter Island.
As soon as she heard the new government at-home test request website was up and running, she wasted no time.
"So I went on and filled in all my information, put in my address and my slip number, and it said I got the tests!" she told CBS 8.
For most applicants, it has been that easy: going to COVIDTests.gov and clicking on the blue "Order free at-home tests" button. Applicants are then re-directed to a U.S. Postal Service page, where they fill in their name, email and address; click "Check out now" [at zero cost] and then, hopefully, they receive a confirmation.
When Janet Beach's neighbor living on a nearby boat asked her to order for him, though, there was a problem.
"I did the same thing, but with a different slip number, and it didn't work, " she said. "It said that someone at that same address had already ordered tests."
It's an issue that others are encountering as well, especially if they live in an apartment building or other multi-unit dwelling with the same street address but different unit number.
Several people are taking to social media to complain: one tweeting "Do they not understand there are multiple residents per address?"
"I went, 'Oh my goodness, this is not right,'" said 87-year-old Carleen Thomas of Clairemont, who lives in a single-family house.
She received the same discouraging message.
"They said they had a request already from that address," she added. "And I am going, 'What?' Because I haven't made a request and nobody I know has made a request!"
In response, the U.S. Postal Service confirmed that this mistake is occurring "in a small percentage of orders" as the White House assured that "we have tests for every residential address in the U.S. Please check back tomorrow if you run into any unexpected issues."
The USPS also recommended applicants make sure no one else in your household already ordered, and has also created a web link to file a request for help.
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