White House To Make High-Quality Masks Available To All Americans

WASHINGTON, DC — High-quality masks will soon be available to all Americans as the omicron coronavirus variant continues to push daily case counts in the United States to unprecedented highs.

President Joe Biden on Thursday said the White House will soon announce a plan to ensure masks are available and free to everyone in the United States. Details should be released next week, Biden said in a tweet.

The federal government has a stockpile of more than 750 million N95 masks, according to The Associated Press. And though research has shown N95 masks offer better protection, they tend to be more uncomfortable than other options.

Health officials are not currently altering their guidance to discourage the use of less-protective cloth masks; however, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering updating its mask guidance to recommend people use N95 or KN95 masks to protect against omicron, according to a Washington Post report.

When the CDC first issued mask guidance in 2020, it did not recommend the use of N95 masks; however, the recommendation was made to conserve masks for health care workers.

Currently, there is no shortage of N95 masks in the United States, the Post reported.

As omicron continues to infect Americans at a rapid pace, the best mask "is the one that you will wear and the one you can keep on all day long, that you can tolerate in public indoor settings," Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday.

Biden also said the federal government will double to 1 billion the rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests it plans to distribute free to Americans.

Speaking at the White House, Biden acknowledged that "I know we’re all frustrated as we enter this new year" as virus cases reach new heights. But he insisted it remains "a pandemic of the unvaccinated."

Until tests are shipped, Americans will also have access to free at-home testing under a new federal rule requiring insurance companies to cover the cost of tests. The rule goes into effect Jan. 15. Tests can be purchased online or at a pharmacy or store, and they will be covered upfront by a health plan or through reimbursement.

"We are requiring insurers and group health plans to make tests free for millions of Americans. This is all part of our overall strategy to ramp-up access to easy-to-use, at-home tests at no cost," Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a news release Monday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.