The Baker administration this week will start sending more than 2 million rapid at-home COVID-19 tests to cities and towns for use by their residents, officials said Monday.

The state Executive Office of Health and Human Services said the free tests will be available to all 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts, with 264 communities requesting tests so far. Each municipality, the agency said, will determine how to distribute the tests to their residents.

“This initiative builds upon the Commonwealth’s nation-leading efforts to make testing accessible for residents throughout the pandemic,” Governor Charlie Baker said in a statement. “Along with vaccines and treatments, testing remains an important tool to manage COVID, which is why we will continue to ensure testing resources remain widely available.”

Baker’s words were echoed in the statement by Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito.

“Our Administration is pleased to work with municipalities on this effort to get more rapid tests to residents,” Polito said. “Rapid tests are an efficient and flexible way for individuals to protect themselves and their communities from the virus.”

Over the past six months, the statement continued, officials have secured nearly 30 million rapid antigen tests for Massachusetts residents, cities and towns, food banks, correctional facilities, senior and low-income housing complexes, and many other educational, health, and community-based organizations.

“The administration remains committed to providing our residents with the tools to manage COVID-19 and testing is one key tool to combat the spread of COVID-19,″ said Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders. “We will continue our aggressive efforts to provide these crucial tools, to ensure the safety and health of Massachusetts residents.”

The tests will be distributed on a rolling basis over the next two weeks.

In late February, a study from researchers at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School found the accuracy of rapid home test kits was on a par with PCR tests more commonly used at large testing sites and medical settings and processed in a laboratory.

The study found the antigen tests used at home performed “similarly” well at detecting the Omicron and Delta variants, the school announced at the time.

The Globe reported Friday that three of Massachusetts’s 14 counties had high community levels of COVID-19, meaning people in those counties should wear masks in indoor public spaces. But that number was down from five counties the week before and from as high as 11 last month, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The counties that had high levels of COVID as of Friday were Suffolk, Middlesex, and Norfolk, according to the CDC. More than 3.1 million people live in those counties.

In Boston, the largest city in Suffolk County, the Public Health Commission noted Sunday that COVID-19 vaccines remain readily available for anyone in the Hub who needs them.

“There are free walk-in vaccine clinics all throughout Boston, offering vaccines and boosters for everyone ages 5+,” the Boston Public Health Commission tweeted Sunday. “If you need a first dose, second dose, or booster, visit http://boston.gov/covid19-vaccine to find a clinic near you!”

There are free walk-in vaccine clinics all throughout Boston, offering vaccines and boosters for everyone ages 5+ If you need a first dose, second dose, or booster, visit https://t.co/hg4jJvYbTr to find a clinic near you!

Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report.

Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.

Work at Boston Globe Media