Meijer providing free N95 masks to customers

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Fort Wayne’s NBC) - The federal government has started shipping out 400 million N95 masks to stores across the country, and Americans are now able to pick them up for free.

Meijer said in a media release that the free masks are available to pick up in-store after the retail chain received about 3 million masks. They say the masks will be in boxes set near the Meijer Greeter stand of the grocery entrance. A gloved employee will place the N95 masks in piles of three for the customers to take.

The White House announced on Jan. 19 that the masks came from the government’s Strategic National Stockpile, which has more than 750 million of the masks on hand. It is the largest distribution of free masks by the federal government to the public since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Some of the first masks arrived in the Midwest on Friday, with Hy-Vee stores among the first to get them. CVS pharmacies are also expected to receive and begin distributing free N95 masks in the coming weeks as supply from the federal government comes in. Walgreens and Kroger officials say they expect shipments later this week.

Copyright 2022 Fort Wayne’s NBC. All rights reserved.