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. In early 2020, then-President Donald Trump's administration considered and then shelved plans to send masks to people at their homes. President Joe Biden embraced the initiative after facing mounting criticism this month over the inaccessibility — both in supply and cost — of N95 masks as the highly transmissible omicron variant swept across the country.
After facing similar criticism over a winter shortage of COVID-19 at-home test kits, Biden this week launched a website for Americans to order four rapid tests to be shipped to their homes for free, with the first tests to ship later this month.
The White House said the masks will be made available at pharmacies and community health centers that have partnered with the federal government's COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday updated its guidance on face coverings to more clearly state that properly fitted N95 and KN95 masks offer the most protection against COVID-19. Still, it didn't formally recommend N95s over cloth masks.
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,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said last week.
Details were not immediately available on the specifics of the program, including the sort of masks to be provided, whether kid-size ones will be available and whether the masks could be reworn.
The White House said that “to ensure broad access for all Americans, there will be three masks available per person.”
N95 or KN95 masks are more widely available now than at any other time during the pandemic, though they are often more costly than less-protective surgical masks or cloth masks.
Vice President Kamala Harris received impressive amount of media coverage in January for making history. However, the media attention waned significantly and some are now even saying she has almost disappeared from public view. Reecie Colbert, founder of BlackWomenViews Media, joined Cheddar Politics to discuss more.
If you thought you heard the last of the Mueller report back in 2019, you'd be wrong. While the bombshell report was the biggest story in Washington for years, much of the report remained redacted. Our friends at BuzzFeed News weren't satisfied, so they sued to have certain passages unredacted. They notched another win when a federal appeals court ordered ten passages from the report to be released.
Matt Topic, BuzzFeed's attorney in the case, and Jason Leopold, reporter at BuzzFeed News, join Cheddar Politics to discuss.
The U.S. reported its first confirmed case of the omicron variant in California on Wednesday. Scientists and health officials are racing to understand the variant, with the WHO saying it's still too early to determine whether it's more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to vaccines than other variants. Omicron has pushed members of the WHO to commit to start talks over a "gobal pandemic treaty" for future pandemic preparedness.
Priti Krishtel, co-founder and co-executive director of the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
Wednesday was not a good day for those who believe in abortion rights in this country as the Supreme Court heard arguments on a Mississippi abortion law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The majority of the court appears poised to roll back abortion rights, and the questions from the conservative justices seemed to indicate the law for nearly 50 years is likely to change.
Jessica Mason Pieklo, senior vice president and executive editor of Rewire News Group, joined Cheddar Politics to discuss Wednesday's hearing.
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, has been busy since completing his prison sentence in November. He's getting into the NFT space, selling his federal prison badge and the original manuscript of his book "Disloyal" as NFTs. Cohen joined Cheddar to discuss his latest venture and why he thinks there is still much to be revealed about his case.
Jonathan Adler, Law Professor at Case Western Reserve University, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss Tuesday's ruling and provide legal context to recent battles over vaccine mandates.
Carlo and Baker wrap up the week talking about the Biden economic boom that no one seems to notice, a verdict in the Jussie Smollett case, the first Starbucks union in America and the pleasures of the "dude nod."
A new bill in Congress shows just how bipartisan cannabis really is. Rep. David Joyce, a Republican from Ohio, teamed up with progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on a cannabis expungement bill. Cheddar cannabis reporter Chloe Aiello spoke with the congressman about the legislation.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus have lined up to support the Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act introduced by Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif. 41st District). The representative joined Cheddar to discuss how instituting a four-day workweek in the United States can be beneficial for both employees with the need of a work-life balance and employers looking both to retain talent amid a labor shortage and improve efficiency in their workforces. "We live in a different time than 90 years ago when we established a 40-hour workweek," he said. "We've had a lot of technological changes, the American worker is exponentially more productive than previous generations, so it's time to reexamine Americans and the way in which they relate to work."
