Reports: Obama Admin Used up the Stockpile of N95 Masks but Never Replenished the Supply, Despite Recommendations to Do so

According to reports from the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg News — not exactly right-wing media outlets — the federal stockpile of N95 respirator masks was depleted under the Obama administration but never replenished, despite two separate recommendations to do so.

Critics of the current administration have blamed President Donald Trump for the shortage of respirator masks that has left the country looking for ways to mass-produce them in time to fight the spread of the coronavirus.

But a Sunday report from PJ Media found that stockpile shortage can be traced back much further back than to January or even nearly four years ago to Trump’s inauguration. The problem began in 2009 under the Obama administration. . .

In 2005, the George W. Bush administration published the “National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza,” which outlined a strategy for the federal government to assist state and local efforts in the event of a pandemic. A key part of the strategy was for the federal government to distribute medical supplies, such as N95 masks, from the Strategic National Stockpile.

Then, in 2009, the H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak swept through the United States, infecting 60 million Americans, hospitalizing 274,304, and killing 12,469, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Read more from “Reports: Obama Admin Used up the Stockpile of N95 Masks but Never Replenished the Supply, Despite Recommendations to Do so” HERE)

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