US President Joe Biden holds up a KN95 mask as he delivers an update on his Administrations whole-of-government COVID-19 surge response at the White House in Washington, DC, on January 13, 2022. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP vi The Biden administration will begin making 400 million N95 masks available for free to Americans starting next week, now that federal officials are emphasizing their better protection against the omicron variant of COVID-19 over cloth face coverings.The White House announced Wednesday that the masks will come from the government's Strategic National Stockpile, which has more than 750 million of the highly protective masks on hand.
The masks will be available for pickup at pharmacies and community health centers across the country. They will begin shipping this week for distribution starting late next week, the White House said.This will be the largest distribution of free masks by the federal government to the public since the COVID-19 pandemic began.