White House says free N95 masks will be provided at pharmacies

by Sabrina Siddiqui | UPDATED January 19, 2022 05:00 AM EST

The distribution of 400 million masks comes as the Biden administration is also offering free rapid testing to combat the spread of COVID-19

The Biden administration may announce plans on Wednesday to make 400 million N95 masks available free of charge at pharmacies and community health centers across the country, a White House official said.

The move comes as President Biden has stepped up the federal government’s response to a nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases triggered by the highly permeable Omicron version. Some scientists and doctors have said popular single-layer cloth masks may not be enough to protect against omicrons and called on the administration to expand access to high-filtration masks like the N95.

The White House official said that nonsurgical N95 masks will begin to be available at pharmacies and community health centers by the end of next week and the program will begin in full swing. The masks will be sourced from the Strategic National Stockpile, the safety net of the country’s medical-equipment supplies.

“This is the largest deployment of personal protective equipment in US history. Experts agree that masking is an important tool to control the spread of COVID-19,” the official said.

Three masks will be available per person, the official said, to ensure wider reach. The official said most pharmacies that are part of the federal pharmacy vaccine program will distribute masks.

Mr Biden has also sought to expand access to COVID-19 tests amid a nationwide shortage in supplies. On Tuesday, the administration began taking orders for at-home rapid tests through a new website—https://www.covidtests.gov—that will be distributed to Americans for free. One of Mr Biden’s plans, under which private insurers would cover the cost of over-the-counter COVID-19 tests, went into effect this month.

The administration is also taking steps to accelerate the availability and access of COVID-19 antivirals, amid criticism from some public-health experts that it did not adequately prepare for the omicron wave, reducing hospitalizations and short supply. with treatment. The federal government has now purchased 20 million treatment courses of Pfizer Inc.’s COVID-19 antiviral pill Paxlovid and expects to have at least half of them by June.

Mr Biden has urged the public to wear masks in public indoor spaces, but has held off on calling on state and local officials to roll back mask mandates amid the Omicron wave. In December, the president extended a masked mandate to passengers on planes, buses and trains and domestic transportation hubs such as airports and indoor bus terminals, as the version began to take hold in the US.

Last week, Mr Biden acknowledged that finding high-quality masks was not easy. “I know that for some Americans, a mask isn’t always affordable or convenient to obtain,” he said. “I know we all wish we could eventually be done with wearing masks. I got it. But… they are a really important tool to stop the spread, especially of the highly communicable Omicron variant. “

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people wear “the most protective mask that fits snugly and that you will wear consistently.” The public-health agency advises that well-fitted respirators, including N95s, approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, offer the most protection against Covid-19.

N95 masks have a denser network of fibers than surgical or cloth masks. That tight mesh, along with the electrostatic charge in the material, generally makes such masks the most efficient at trapping larger droplets and aerosols that are inhaled by the wearer. They also better block such particles from being inhaled.

Even before the previous three-day holiday weekend began and some data reporting was disrupted, the US seven-day average for newly reported Covid-19 cases hit a record high of nearly 800,000 a day, Johns Hopkins University data Show.