Free N95 masks are available at CVS & Hyvee in Kansas City

Free N95 masks from the government are now at more stores in the Kansas City metro area. You can walk in and pick some up, no questions asked.

Hy-Vee was the first store to get shipments of the masks in the Midwest and now other local pharmacies and health centers have received their shipments.

The White House is distributing 400 million of these N95 masks to people across the country for protection against the coronavirus and the omicron variant.

The release of the masks comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said N95 masks offer the highest level of protection against COVID-19. As the omicron variant rapidly spread through the United States in December and January, experts have suggested Americans ditch cloth masks in favor of N95s.

Here’s what local doctors had to say about the different levels of protection you can get from different masks.

Here’s a list of stores and pharmacies where you can find the highly protective and free N95 masks throughout the Kansas City metro area. We’ll update it when we have more information.

CVS

All CVS stores in Kansas City now have N95 masks in stock, so find your local store and pick them up at the counter in the front of the store. Stores may run out, so you should call before going to verify if they still have them available.

HY-VEE

The location on Prairie Village has N95 masks available. You just walk in and pick them up in aisle 10. HyVee’s store in Independence also has them, and they’re found near the pharmacy.

In both locations, you can only pick up three masks. Stores may run out, so call your closest Hy-vee to see if they have masks in stock.

TARGET

The Ward Parkway site doesn’t have them yet and doesn’t know what day they’ll arrive. Other Target locations operate differently, so call in to your closest target to check if the masks are available.

WALGREENS

Walgreens put out a list of what stores have N95 masks, but none in the Kansas City metro area are listed. The location on Linwood doesn’t know when they’re getting N95s in, and the same goes for Lenexa’s store. Call your closest Walgreens to learn more about when the masks will show up.

WALMART

Walmart’s in the Kansas City metro area will get N95s in on Feb. 9. Some may get them earlier, so find your closest store and check in with them.

Do you have other questions about COVID-19 in Kansas City? Ask us at [email protected] or with the form below.