Starting in March, the Biden administration will deliver the masks to more than 1,300 community health centers, as well as 60,000 food pantries and popular cuisines across the country. The White House says about 12 to 15 million Americans will receive masks as a result of these efforts.
The masks will be “free, high quality, washable and consistent with the CDC mask orientation,” according to the White House. “All of these masks will be made in America and will not affect the availability of masks for healthcare professionals.”
Zients emphasized targeting the effort at Americans who may want to wear masks but do not have access.
“With this action, we are helping to level the playing field by giving vulnerable populations well-adjusted masks of quality,” said Zients.
Biden has repeatedly emphasized the importance of wearing masks in public to minimize the spread of the virus. The president determined the use of masks on federal properties as soon as he took office, and now masks are also required on public transport and at airports and transit stations.
Biden said on Tuesday that the White House will “likely” take steps to send masks directly to Americans.
The United States Post Office planned to distribute 650 million facial covers to the Trump administration last April, according to internal documents analyzed by CNN in September. A senior government official told The Washington Post at the time that the plan was rejected by the White House, as some advisers were concerned that it might create “worry or panic”.