The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) threw away around 5.4 million N95 masks just a year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit—at which time Canada experienced a shortage of the masks—according to an internal audit.
The largest-scale disposal of N95 masks came after PHAC closed three private medical supply warehouses in 2019, says a federal report titled “Audit of the Security of National Emergency Strategic Stockpile Warehouse Facilities” and obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
