The White House will make 400 million highly protective N95 masks available to Americans for free at pharmacies and health centers across the United States starting next week.
The Biden administration announced Wednesday that the masks will come from the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile, which currently has more than 750 million masks in stock. The White House will begin shipping the masks for distribution late next week to health facilities that have partnered the the federal government's COVID-19 vaccination campaign--including CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) and Walgreens (NASDAQ: WBA)--with the program becoming fully operational by early next month.
The White House said that the free N95 marks will be the largest deployment of personal protective equipment in the nation's history as the U.S. tries to combat the new highly infectious Omicron variant.
In updated guidance published last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said N95 masks are more effective at preventing the virus's transmission than cloth and surgical masks. However, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters earlier this month that the "CDC continues to recommend that any mask is better than no mask. And we do encourage all Americans to wear a well-fitting mask to protect themselves and prevent the spread of COVID-19, and that recommendation is not going to change".
The CDC said N95 masks must form a seal on the face to work properly, noting that gaps in the mask can let virus carrying respiratory droplets to enter or exit. The agency recommends that everyone 2-years-old or older to wear masks in indoor public spaces regardless of vaccination status in areas with substantial or high levels of transmission.
The White House did not make details of the plan immediately available, including the sizes of masks to be provided and whether the masks could be re-worn.
The announcement of the mask distribution comes as the Biden administration's website to distribute at-home COVID tests to Americans for free went live on Tuesday. Now, every household in the U.S can order up to four COVID tests to be delivered through the United States Postal Service.