Photo courtesy of Hy-Vee Hy-Vee stores started receiving shipments of free N95 respirator masks from the federal government on Feb. 21, company spokespeople said. The Marshall Hy-Vee received a shipment of N95 masks late last week, and customers can pick them up near the pharmacy.

MARSHALL — Supplies of free N95 respirator masks from the federal government are on their way to pharmacies around the country, and Marshall area residents can now get theirs at Hy-Vee.

Hy-Vee began distributing its first shipments of N95 masks on Jan. 21, and the Marshall store received its shipment late last week, said Hy-Vee spokesperson Christina Gayman.

All 275 Hy-Vee pharmacy locations are now distributing the free masks, with a limit of three per person, Gayman said.

N95s are tight-fitting masks that can provide a higher level of protection against COVID-19 than cloth masks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Minnesota Department of Health is currently recommending people wear high-quality masks like N95 or KN95 masks to help slow the spread of COVID variants like omicron.

Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced that it would be making a total of 400 million N95 respirator masks available to help fight the spread of COVID. The masks are coming from the Strategic National Stockpile of protective equipment, and are being distributed to pharmacies and community health centers.

As of Monday, the Marshall Hy-Vee location had free N95 masks available, Gayman said.

“There is a table set up in front of the pharmacy area, and a dedicated employee is handing the masks out to customers who would like them,” Gayman said. Under guidance from Health and Human Services, customers do not need to provide any information to receive the free masks.

Last week, N95s were just starting to arrive in Minnesota pharmacies. On Saturday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that officials at CVS Health and Coborn’s pharmacies were expecting supplies soon.

Sandy Murphy, pharmacist at GuidePoint Pharmacy in Marshall, said their pharmacy is supposed to be getting N95 masks, because they were part of the federal COVID vaccine program.

However, Murphy said she doesn’t know yet when the masks will arrive. It could be later this week or next week, she said.

Employees at Thrifty White in Marshall said Monday the pharmacy did not have free N95 masks, but they did have KN95 masks for sale.

At the same time that the federal government is distributing supplies of N95 masks, the state of Minnesota is also distributing a different style of high-quality mask to schools and public health agencies. On Thursday, Gov. Tim Walz announced that the state will provide a total of 2.1 million KN95 masks.

Around 650,000 of the KN95 masks will go to local public health agencies, and schools will receive a total of 550,000 masks to distribute to staff and students, the Governor’s Office said. Other mask recipients will also include child care centers, clinics serving people enrolled in Medicaid, and tribal nations.

“Throughout the pandemic we have built a strong partnership with schools, local public health agencies, community groups, and others to make sure Minnesotans can access the tools they need to safely navigate COVID-19. That includes KN95 masks, which are especially important as we confront the highly contagious Omicron variant,” Walz said in a news release. “Studies constantly show that high-quality masks like KN95s better protect wearers from COVID-19 and help slow the spread of the virus.”

Marshall Public Schools Superintendent Jeremy Williams said the school district received an offer of more than 1,600 KN95 masks for staff and students.

“We have accepted the offer and are waiting for more information as to when they will be delivered to Marshall,” Williams said Monday. “My understanding is that the state will be distributing masks to the service cooperative for districts to pick up, much like they did with the cloth masks they provided us in the past.”

Carol Biren, director of public health at Southwest Health and Human Services, said the agency recently received N99 masks.

“We are distributing them to partners to help disperse, and also will have them available for people to pick up in each of our six office locations by Monday, Feb. 7,” Biren said. SWHHS offices are open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.