The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention oversees a backlog of 142 applications from manufacturers of air-filtering masks such as N95s, which the agency was criticized as being slow to recommend over cloth masks before updating its guidance Friday.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a part of CDC, has yet to review dozens of applications from manufacturers seeking regulatory approval to sell N95s, according to its website. Some of these applications have sat at the CDC for months. One application submitted to the center in April was not completed until late December.
“NIOSH should make their way through the backlog and approve (or disapprove) more masks! More choice is good for consumers,” Megan Ranney, academic dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and co-founder of the Get Us PPE organization that delivers protective equipment, said in an email.
