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The Obama Administration Left America’s N95 Mask Stockpile Depleted

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As some Democrats continue to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic for political gain, I think it’s important to point out their own negligence in that the Obama Administration left Americans wholly unprepared for future pandemics with a major shortage of N95 masks.

According to The Daily Wire, the Obama administration “significantly depleted the federal stockpile of N95 respirator masks” during its 2009 battle with the H1N1 Swine Flu.

After using up to three-fourths of America’s mask reserves, President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden never replenished the supply.

The consequences have been noticeable as the Nation tries to fend off the newest biological threat of coronavirus. The shortage is said to be affecting many healthcare workers, some of whom have had to go without or settle for using substandard protection.

As healthcare professionals struggle to acquire Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), the American public has an even smaller supply. The shortage has caused demand to skyrocket as private companies and private citizens alike do their best to help the Nation recover from the shortage.

After first advising against the public wearing masks, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has reversed that, advising Americans to wear some form of mask in public to protect against droplets and airborne particles of COVID-19. While N95 masks are ideal, experts say even a bandana or scarf is better than nothing.

Bloomberg News recently reported on the matter writing,

“The national stockpile used to be somewhat more robust. In 2006, Congress provided supplemental funds to add 104 million N95 masks and 52 million surgical masks in an effort to prepare for a flu pandemic…

But after the H1N1 influenza outbreak in 2009, which triggered a nationwide shortage of masks and caused a 2- to 3-year backlog orders for the N95 variety, the stockpile distributed about three-quarters of its inventory and didn’t build back the supply.”

The United States saw over 60 million hospitalizations and more than 30,000 deaths from the H1N1 Swine Flu in 2009. COVID-19 is believed to have contributed to the cause of death of more than 10,000 Americans so far in 2020.

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