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President Joe Biden’s administration plans to unveil a plan Wednesday to provide free, high-quality face masks to the American people, the White House said.
The announcement follows the warning recent warning from top U.S. health officials, who have urged not to let down their guard amid reports that coronavirus cases are peaking in some areas.
“The administration (…) will make 400 million non-surgical N95 masks from the Strategic National Stockpile available free of charge at tens of thousands of convenient locations across the country,” said a White House official who gave reporters a written preview of Biden’s plan Tuesday.
It is – he specified – the largest deployment of personal protective equipment in U.S. history.
The text indicates that experts agree that the face shield is an important tool to control the spread of COVID-19.
“That’s why the president (Joe Biden) has consistently asked Americans to wear a mask in enclosed public spaces,” the text given to reporters indicated.
According to official figures, the United States has tripled the number of N95 masks in the Strategic National Stockpile since January 2021, to more than 750 million N95 masks.
However, the new plan seeks to “further increase access and ensure that Americans who need masks have access to them (…) free of charge.
Since taking office a year ago, Biden placed the pandemic at the center of his administration’s tasks.Among the measures, he used the Defense Production Act to ensure that the U.S. has enough masks so that front-line workers and all Americans can protect themselves.
How will the masks be distributed?
The text advanced to reporters indicated that to ensure that accessing these masks is easy and convenient, the Administration is leveraging the federal retail pharmacy program and the federal community health center program.
The idea is that “free masks will be available at many of the same convenient and trusted locations where Americans go to get vaccinated.”
That is, they will be available at tens of thousands of local pharmacies, as well as thousands of community health centers across the country.
When will they be available?
The Biden administration will begin shipping masks later this week and the masks will begin to be available in pharmacies and community health centers by the end of next week.
The program will be fully operational by early February, the White House official indicated via text.
President Biden signed executive orders to require people to wear face masks in federal buildings and spaces, and on planes and trains.
Previous deliveries?
The White House reported that last year the Biden administration distributed more than 30 million facemasks to food banks and community health centers to ensure that the most at-risk and hardest-hit communities had access to facemasks.
The White House text also reported that the government will continue to provide masks to medical personnel and other essential workers across the states.
“In total, we have already deployed more than 23.5 million facemasks and respirators to states across the country, including 1.5 million since the start of the new year,” the text concluded.
[Con reporte de Jorge Agobian, en la Casa Blanca]
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