Nonprofit Direct Relief announced it will be donating 60 million KN95 masks to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and support vaccination campaigns in 19 countries across the globe.
Countries such as Ecuador, Panama, Mexico, Indonesia, Fiji, Jordan, and Lebanon are among those that will be receiving a shipment of masks from the Santa Barbara-based nonprofit.
The donations are coming from a purchase of 89 million masks by Direct Relief, among the largest single PPE purchases by a charitable nonprofit.
In addition to PPE, Direct Relief is assisting in transporting COVID-19 vaccines to Mexico and other countries throughout the Americas, the most recent delivery of which was a 2.7 million-dose donation from Moderna to the Government of Mexico.
In total, Direct Relief has helped ship more than 12 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the Americas.
Direct Relief is also reserving 10 million masks for U.S. safety-net health facilities, including Federally Qualified Health Centers and Free and Charitable Clinics.
Once the latest round of mask deliveries is complete, Direct Relief will have donated nearly 300 million PPE units since the pandemic began.