Kansas City area Hy-Vee stores have free N95 masks. How to get yours, where to find more
Free N95 masks from the government are at Hy-Vee stores in the Kansas City metro. You can walk in and pick some up, no questions asked.
Hy-Vee was the first store to get shipments of the masks in the Midwest. Other local pharmacies and health centers should be getting some in soon—like in the next week or two—but the exact timeline is still a little unclear. We’ll update this story when we know more.
The White House is distributing 400 million of these N95 masks to people across the country for protection against the coronavirus and the omicron variant.
The release of the masks comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said N95 masks offer the highest level of protection against COVID-19. As the omicron variant rapidly spread through the United States in December and January, experts have suggested Americans ditch cloth masks in favor of N95s.
Here’s what local doctors had to say about the different levels of protection you can get from different masks.
Here’s a list of stores and pharmacies where you can find the highly protective and free N95 masks throughout the Kansas City metro area. We’ll update it when we have more information.
CVS
CVS stores in Kansas City don’t know when the N95 masks are coming, so call your local store to find out when they’ll be in stock.
A company spokesperson told McClatchy that they’ll be in “in the coming weeks.”
HY-VEE
The location on Prairie Village has N95 masks available. You just walk in and pick them up in aisle 10. HyVee’s store in Independence also has them, and they’re found near the pharmacy.
In both locations, you can only pick up three masks. Stores may run out, so call your closest Hy-vee to see if they have masks in stock.
TARGET
The Ward Parkway site doesn’t have them yet and doesn’t know what day they’ll arrive. Other Target locations operate differently, so call in to your closest Target to check if the masks are available.
WALGREENS
The location on Linwood doesn’t know when they’re getting N95s in, and the same goes for Lenexa’s store. Call your closest Walgreens to learn more about when the masks will show up.
“We expect the first stores to begin offering masks on Friday, January 28 and will continue on a rolling basis in the days and weeks following,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to McClatchy News. “Participating stores will have signage indicating mask availability.”
WALMART
Walmart’s in the Kansas City metro area will get N95s in on Feb. 9. Some may get them earlier, so find your closest store and check in with them.
