Why N95 masks are still in short supply in the U.S.

"Global demand continues to outpace production."

• By Yuki Noguchi/NPR

(New York) — A year ago, hundreds of desperate consumers were emailing Mike Bowen’s Texas medical supply factory every day, looking to buy N95 medical respirator masks that can filter viruses: “Scared Americans and moms and old people and people saying, ‘Help me,’ ” Bowen recalls.

Today, most consumers still aren’t able to buy N95 masks, because the supply available to retailers remains very limited. Even hospital workers are still being asked to ration and reuse their supplies of N95s, and the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, “N-95 respirators should not be used [by the general public] because they should be conserved for healthcare personnel.”

Meanwhile, consumer demand for N95s and medical-grade, surgical-style masks keeps growing as the Biden administration emphasizes the use of masks by the public to slow the spread of the coronavirus — especially as new variants of it spread rapidly around the world.

From the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Bowen’s company, Prestige Ameritech, and most other makers and distributors have prioritized supplying health care workers, who say they still don’t have enough masks and other personal protective equipment.

The Biden administration has invoked the Defense Production Act to prioritize production of N95s and other medical supplies. But even with those measures, U.S. hospitals remain worried about their supply of these medical masks — more formally called respirators — despite efforts by factories to churn out billions more.

The story of N95 production over the last year in many ways reflects shortages seen throughout the U.S. medical supply during the pandemic — from ventilators and exam gloves to syringes and vaccines. The demand is global and sustained, putting pressure on a fragile supply chain that remains stressed and unable to keep up.

“Global demand continues to outpace production,” says Nancy Foster, vice president of quality and patient safety at the American Hospital Association. Availability of N95 masks has improved since last spring, Foster says, but “we are continuing to use conservation measures within hospitals to protect the supplies we have, to extend the wear of N95s designed for one-time use.” That includes asking hospital workers to wear each mask longer.

Costs for N95s — and other medical supplies, like medical gloves and gowns — have at least doubled. The use of N95s has increased 500% since July, according to Premier, a company that buys medical supplies on behalf of about 40% of U.S. hospitals.