U.S. to distribute 400 million free N95 masks at CVS, Walgreens in COVID fight

Jeff Mason and Lisa Baertlein

WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES, Jan 19 (Reuters) – The U.S. government will make 400 million non-surgical “N95” masks from its strategic national stockpile available for free to the public starting next week, a White House official said, as the Biden administration tries to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

Snug-fitting N95 face masks, so-called because they filter at least 95% of particulate matter from the air, will be shipped to pharmacies and community health centers this week, the official said, and will be available for pickup late next week.

The U.S. government is leveraging the “federal retail pharmacy program” it used for vaccines, the White House said, as well as federally funded health clinics that serve minority groups hit hard by COVID infections and deaths.

Retail chain CVS (CVS.N), which has nearly 10,000 U.S. pharmacy locations including within Target (TGT.N) stores, and Walgreens (WBA.O), which has over 9,000 stores, plan to distribute free masks, company spokespeople said.

The move comes after President Joe Biden and his team faced criticism for not doing enough to foster masking or bolster testing as the Omicron variant rages across the country, and hospitalizations hit a new record.

The administration also made free rapid home tests available via a website that launched officially on Wednesday.

“This is the largest deployment of personal protective equipment in U.S. history,” the official said about the masks, which retail for roughly $1 to $2 online.

Multilayered masks like the N95 that form a seal around the nose and mouth are considered especially effective at preventing virus spread. Last week the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that Americans wear the “the most protective mask” they can.

Consumer demand for N95s and other more protective masks has spiked in recent weeks on Amazon.com and other online sites.