The Head of FEMA Won’t Say How Many Masks Are Being Shipped to Hospitals

“We have…I am well aware of the high demand for these items.”

Pete Gaynor, FEMA Administrator gives remarks on the Coronavirus crisis in the Brady Press Briefing Room in the White House on Saturday.Stefani Reynolds/CNP via ZUMA Wire

The coronavirus is a rapidly developing news story, so some of the content in this article might be out of date. Check out our most recent coverage of the coronavirus crisis, and subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.

On Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the department of Health and Human Services had placed orders through the Federal Emergency Management Agency for hundreds of millions N95 masks that would be distributed to “to health care providers across the country.”

But on Sunday morning, first on ABC’s “This Week” by Mathra Raddatz then on CNN’s “State of the Union” by  Jake Tapper, the head of FEMA dodged questions about exactly how many masks are available, and how long they’ll take to get to hospitals. 

“It is a dynamic and fluid operation,Gaynor told Tapper. “The president appointed FEMA five days ago to manage federal operations, and since I’ve been here, we’ve been shipping continuously from federal warehouses, and again, connecting, you know, those governors that need supplies to those who have it in the commercial sector.”

“It makes people concerned that there aren’t masks going out the door,” Tapper responded, asking for even a rough number, which Gaynor didn’t give. “I’m not saying that that’s the case, but without a number, that doesn’t fill people with confidence.”

Gaynor similarly did not respond directly to Raddatz when she asked about how masks were available in a stockpile maintained by the federal government and when that stockpile was to go out to the states. 

“We are shipping. All those supplies, to all the demands, all the asks, all the governance, every day, we are—we’re prepared to go to zero in the stockpile to meet demand,”  Gaynor said on the show.

“You’ve still got some in the stockpile, I wonder why that stockpile hasn’t been depleted? Have you seen the urgent pleas from healthcare workers?” Raddatz pressed. 

“We have…I am well aware of the high demand for these items,” Gaynor responded.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate