Read on Twitter
1st of a thread
Majority of N95 masks in the U.S. comes from one company — 3M, which developed the first N95 masks back in the ’70s.
Up until the pandemic, N95s only accounted for less than 1% of the public company’s $32 billion in annual revenues. https://marker.medium.com/how-3m-gambled-its-reputation-on-the-n95-mask-e266a2fd8933
Majority of N95 masks in the U.S. comes from one company — 3M, which developed the first N95 masks back in the ’70s.
Up until the pandemic, N95s only accounted for less than 1% of the public company’s $32 billion in annual revenues. https://marker.medium.com/how-3m-gambled-its-reputation-on-the-n95-mask-e266a2fd8933
N95 masks are precision instruments compared to the cloth masks. Tested to block at least 95% of virus-sized particles in either direction, and when properly worn, sit tight against the face with no air gaps
Essential for critical frontline workers at high risk of exposure
Essential for critical frontline workers at high risk of exposure
3M kept its biggest N95 manufacturing lines in the U.S., in South Dakota and Nebraska, recognizing that in a serious outbreak, overseas pipelines might dry up.
Added shifts & overtime to its plants worldwide to get to 24/7 operation on its lines, pulled the tarps off its extra equipment and materials, and moved hundreds of employees over to mask production.
Studied ways to sterilize masks for reuse.
Studied ways to sterilize masks for reuse.
Airlifting and hand-delivering mask shipments to hard-hit hospitals, moving as many as half a million masks per day. But it wasn’t enough.
There was nothing else 3M could do to make masks any faster. The machines that make them are complex, and getting more of them would take months. The world’s supply of melt-blown polypropylene, difficult to obtain on short notice in the best of times, dried up overnight.
After 85 million masks were distributed from the US stockpile during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, no effort was made to restock even that inadequate supply.
When Covid-19 hit, there were 17 million masks in the national stockpile — and 5 million of those were past the masks’ five-to-10-year expiration dates, which are set because the rubber head bands deteriorate over time.
Hospital-supply distributors insist on hewing to lean supply chain practices — safety be damned.
Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, as one of the best-funded, had a mere week’s supply of N95 masks just days into the pandemic.
Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, as one of the best-funded, had a mere week’s supply of N95 masks just days into the pandemic.
3M alone is on track to produce 2 billion masks this year, more than half of which will be made in, and thus will be sure to stay in, the U.S.
Honeywell is building up to a 250-million-masks-a-year capacity.
Honeywell is building up to a 250-million-masks-a-year capacity.
Maskco has bought 56 Chinese N95-like mask-making machines capable of producing nearly a billion masks per year (they can’t be called N95 masks until they’re thoroughly tested by NIOSH and approved by the FDA).
"If worn widely enough in crowded and indoor settings where most transmission seems to occur, these masks could potentially stop the epidemic altogether.” https://hbr.org/2020/06/we-need-better-masks
"Masks like this would give people control over their own safety, a greater incentive to wear them, and the confidence to resume economically important activities."
Like I do.
@CDCgov still advises against using them for even the vulnerable! WHO does. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/07/01/slow-covid-19-more-americans-need-wear-n-95-masks-indoors-column/3278779001/
Like I do.
@CDCgov still advises against using them for even the vulnerable! WHO does. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/07/01/slow-covid-19-more-americans-need-wear-n-95-masks-indoors-column/3278779001/
Still not nearly enough N95 for general population (and healthcare workers), but what about providing them to the vulnerable & front line workers.
A sub-set to help open up the economy & protect the vulnerable better would be more do-able.
End thread.
A sub-set to help open up the economy & protect the vulnerable better would be more do-able.
End thread.
