Feds ask pharmacies to donate unused N95 masks

Photo: Xavier Lorenzo/Getty Images

The federal government, through the Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration, is encouraging pharmacies to share their remaining inventory of N95 masks with health centers and other community agencies and organizations.

Previously, HHS had distributed free N95 masks from the Strategic National Stockpile to communities across the United States. The new request is meant to supplement this distribution of masks and further ease ongoing supply chain challenges, and to ensure a steady supply of masks to the public.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT?

Health centers that would benefit from additional N95 masks to distribute in their communities are encouraged to reach out to local pharmacies that provide COVID-19 vaccines regarding what types of federally provided N95 masks they may still have available.

It's important to keep in mind that some pharmacy partners may have limited or no remaining N95s for donation, said HRSA.

As part of the effort, pharmacy partners and other community partners are not allowed to charge people for the federally provided supplies.

THE LARGER TREND

An initiative dubbed Buy American, was launched in March 2022 to increase the domestic content threshold for products, initially from 55% to 60%, then to 65% in calendar year 2024, and to 75% in calendar year 2029.

The initiative should help expand domestic production of N95 masks, nitrile exam gloves and isolation gowns, items often manufactured overseas that were in short supply during peak surges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden administration said at the time.

A 2021 Premier analysis found that during the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals across the U.S. spent more than $3 billion to procure personal protective equipment for worker and patient safety. Prior to the pandemic, in 2019, hospitals typically spent a little over $7 per patient per day on PPE. That figure skyrocketed to $20.40 during the spring of 2020, driven by increased consumption, off-contract buying and PPE bidding wars against federal and state governments and other providers to source limited supplies.

In January 2021, President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act, using it to ramp up production of masks, face shields and other PPE so that national supply exceeds demand.

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