California has thousands of N95 and KN95 masks available for free. Why aren’t more counties taking advantage?

In Rancho Cordova, a COVID-19 vaccine clinic on Wednesday distributed 16,000 KN95 masks free to the public for those who signed up. The personal protective equipment given away included 550 household kits of 10 masks each and 350 business kits with 30 masks each. The city of Rancho Cordova said it partnered with the Rancho Cordova Area Chamber of Commerce for the event and the masks were provided for free from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. Cal OES confirmed to KCRA 3 this week that it is providing supplies of N95s and KN95s, upon request, to chambers of commerce statewide, nonprofit organizations, trade associations and faith-based groups in addition to schools, counties and medical facilities. KCRA 3 has previously reported on how Cal OES has distributed more than 23 million high-quality masks to offices of education across the state since schools reopened from winter break. Overall, Cal OES has distributed more than 39 billion pieces of PPE to Californians since the start of the pandemic.