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US pharmacies are rolling out
free N95 masks |
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As free
Covid-19 tests are landing in the mailboxes of people who ordered them, the first free N95
masks for the public have started to arrive at US pharmacies, with
more on the way in the coming days. The
Biden administration is seeking to ramp up access to high-quality masks amid the
spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant. Meanwhile, the free tests
started shipping out last week, part of the administration's effort to
increase access to testing across the United States. Masks
already are set up for distribution at some Hy-Vee and Meijer grocery stores
in the Midwest, with more expected at Southeastern Grocers stores later this
week. Last
week, the White House announced that 400 million N95 masks, coming from the
Strategic National Stockpile, would be distributed to pharmacies and
community health centers, with the program expected to be fully up and
running by early February. People
looking to pick up the free masks will be limited to three per person. Some of
the first masks arrived in the Midwest on Friday, including at Hy-Vee grocery
stores in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, South Dakota,
Wisconsin and Nebraska and at Meijer stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin. Masks will
also begin arriving at Southeastern Grocers locations as early as Friday and
will be available at Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie
in-store pharmacies. CVS
pharmacies and Walgreens are expected to receive and begin distributing free
N95 masks in the coming weeks. The
first 100 community health centers participating in the federal government’s
mask rollout are also starting this week. |
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