Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

DC Residents Raise Concerns Over Quality of Free KN95 Masks

Washington, D.C. residents have raised concerns about the authenticity of free KN95 masks distributed by District officials.

The issue was first reported by The Eagle, American University’s student newspaper, which claimed American University unknowingly distributed counterfeit KN95 masks to students after The Eagle found masks that were inconsistent with the standards set for the masks by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The KN95 masks D.C. officials have distributed at the city’s COVID Centers, which serve as hubs for District residents to get tested, vaccinated and boosted, cause similar concerns, according to the Washington City Paper.

@MayorBowser/Twitter | Washington, D.C. residents have raised concerns about the legitimacy of free KN95 masks passed out by District officials after being flagged as possibly counterfeit.

Counterfeit masks can be less protective against the highly transmissible omicron variant, and do not meet standards set by the CDC. Authentic KN95 masks should present specific markings that indicate manufacturer name and date, according to the CDC.

A clear way to determine whether a mask is poorly made is checking for packaging with misspellings, as the masks handed out to American University students show. After an investigation, American University later confirmed that the masks they had acquired and handed out to students during their first week of in-person instruction did not meet these standards. 

Many organizations unknowingly purchase counterfeit masks, according to Project N95, a nonprofit working to make respiratory protection nationally accessible.  

“The reality is that many procurement professionals simply do not have the information they need to make good purchasing decisions,” the project N95 spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “They are usually doing their best to protect students and teachers, but knowledge about the high level of fakes, counterfeits and substandard masks is not widely known.”

D.C. government officials acquired two procurements of masks for its COVID Centers from V-Tech Solutions. However, KN95 masks distributed by the District at COVID Centers do not contain text providing manufacturing information on the face of the mask, similar to the masks handed out at American University. 

According to Evan Yeats, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 4, many people in his ward have shared their concerns about the authenticity of masks being handed out in D.C.

“I believe masks work, and I believe good masks work even better,” Yeats said in an interview with The Hoya.

Masks distributed by the District exhibit the issues that health professionals have identified in counterfeit masks, according to Yeats.

“When you look at them, both me and my constituents have noticed that they seem to be of a lower quality than authentic KN95s from reliable sources,” Yeats said. “They seem to be thinner, they seem to be flimsier, they don’t have the markings that they tell you to look for.” 

Around 60% of KN95s imported to the United States could be considered counterfeit, according to Project N95.

“You cannot look at a mask and tell it is authentic,” the spokesperson wrote. “The active part of a mask is the electrostatically charged meltblown layer, and that is on the inside. What you have to do is know who made it and be assured that it is not expired.”

Masks that do have markings on them can often be traced to manufacturers that produce insufficiently protective masks, according to Yeats.

“When they do have markings, like one that a constituent provided to me from the Police Academy, came from a factory that has failed performance testing for its masks,” Yeats said.

The questionable quality of these masks has increased concern over the safety of vulnerable populations throughout D.C., according to Yeats.

“It is great that the government wants to step up and fill that role, that is exactly the role for the government,” Yeats said. “But you allow the inequity to persist if people who rely upon free masks from the government get lower performing masks than people who buy their own on their private sector and verify themselves like me, and that makes things harder for low-wage and essential workers who are critical to keeping our city going every day.”

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