Around 400 million masks will be made available.

This morning, the Biden Administration released an officially announcement that the Strategic National Stockpile is being tapped in order to distribute roughly 400 million N95 face masks to the American populace. These masks will be deployed to various pharmacies and medical centers around the country starting next week, where residents can obtain up to three for free.

“This is the largest deployment of personal protective equipment in US history,” a White House official explained to CNN. “To ensure broad access for all Americans, there will be three masks available per person. In addition to this program, thanks to the administration’s efforts, these high-quality masks are in ample supply and widely available to American consumers.”

In recent months, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have repeatedly revamped their guidelines around COVID-19 safety, necessitated by the emergence of the Omicron variant. Since the very beginning of the pandemic, experts have agreed that the absolute best means of everyday defense, aside from vaccination, is a properly fitted respirator mask such as an N95. The CDC has been advising people to refrain from wearing simple cloth masks unless that’s all they have, as cloth masks without multiple layers and proper respiration capability don’t provide nearly as much protection against Omicron.

“I know we all wish that we could finally be done with wearing masks. I get it,” President Joe Biden said last week. “But there is a — they’re a really important tool to stop the spread, especially of the highly transmittable Omicron variant. So, please, please wear the mask.”