7 area Stop & Shop locations will distribute N95 masks

Seven Stop & Shop locations in New Haven County will begin giving out N95 masks this weekend, as part of President Joe Biden’s plan to distribute 400 million of the masks for free.

A statement provided by the grocery store chain said the supply of masks “will be very limited and will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.” Masks are limited to three per person.

The statement said the mask distribution begins Saturday.

“The distribution of these high-quality masks is an extension of Stop & Shop’s commitment to providing access to the tools necessary to combat COVID-19,” the statement reads.

The Biden administration announced its plan last month to distribute the non-surgical masks to Americans from the national stockpile. It came amid growing consensus that cloth face coverings did not provide wearers enough protection amid a surge caused by the omicron variant, which researchers spread much more easily between people than the original strain of the virus, and even the delta variant, which was responsible for a spike in cases beginning in the summer.

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance on masking, indicating that cloth masks don’t offer as much protection against the virus for the wearer as disposable surgical, KN95 masks or N95 masks.

The CDC also removed language from it’s guidance recommending N95 masks be saved for health care workers, adding that only “surgical N95s” are the respirators that should be reserved for health care workers.

Stop & Shop locations offering N95 masks

Waterbury: 410 Reidville Drive and 920 Wolcott St.

West Haven: 460 Elm

Ansonia: 100 Division

New Haven: 112 Amity

Meriden: 485 Broad St. East Haven: 370 Hemingway Ave.