As of March, Biden’s administration will be delivering the masks to more than 1,300 community health centers as well as 60,000 food pantries and soup kitchens across the country. The White House says an estimated 12 to 15 million Americans will receive masks as a result of these efforts.
According to the White House, the masks are ‘free of charge, high quality, washable and in line with the CDC’s mask line’. “All of these masks are manufactured in America and will not affect the availability of masks for healthcare professionals.”
Zients emphasized the pursuit of Americans who may want to wear masks but do not have access.
“With this action, we are helping to level the playing field, and giving vulnerable populations a quality fit,” Zients said.
Biden has repeatedly stressed the importance of wearing masks in public to reduce the spread of the virus. The president has ordered wearing masks on federal property once he has taken office, and masks are also now needed with public transportation and at airports and transit stations.
Biden said Tuesday the White House will “likely” move to send face masks directly to Americans.
The U.S. Postal Service last April planned to distribute 650 million face masks to the Trump administration, according to internal documents reviewed by CNN in September. A senior administration official at the time told The Washington Post that the plan had been scrapped by the White House as some advisers worried it could cause ‘concern or panic’.