With the growing cases of COVID-19 due to the omicron variant and children returning back to schools from winter break, experts are now recommending you upgrade your child's cloth mask to a three-ply surgical mask.
Any of the N95, KN95 or KF94 masks offer more protection against omicron than a cloth mask.
Richard Malley, a senior physician at Boston Children’s Hospital Division of Infectious Diseases and professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, spoke about why it's important to upgrade from a cloth mask, especially for children in a classroom.
“What we are seeing [with omicron] is, you need additional protection compared to what cloth masks were providing. Omicron is much more transmissible than the variants we saw prior," Malley said. "If you are indoors and, particularly, if you’re around a lot of people—which is basically a classroom -- you want [kids] wearing a higher quality and better-fitting mask.”
The most popular protective mask is the N95 respirator, however, they are extremely hard to find in children's sizes. The National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) only regulates products designed for adults, so there aren't any NIOSH approved children's masks available.
Many children's masks will say FDA-approved or FDA-certified, but the only FDA-approved children's mask is made by Kimberly-Clark. Malley went on to mention how important it is for the mask to fit a child's face properly.
“You really want to be very aware of gaps, looseness [and/or] slipping right now,” Malley said.
Measuring your child's face is the best way to help find a properly fitted mask. Some adult masks can be as small as 5-inches, so it's possible a child could fit it.
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Here are some websites where you can buy a surgical, KF94, and KN95 mask for you child to better protect them against the omicron variant.
Kimberly-Clark makes the first and only kids' mask to receive FDA-certification, and has been used nationwide in hospitals for over 20 years. They retail for $19.95 for a 75-count box.
Evolvetogether makes a three-layer mask that blocks 95% of bacteria and particles, and are reviewed as a comfortable and breathable mask for kids, but are not adjustable. They are sold in a variety of colors and styles of masks, but the KN95 masks cost $14.95 for a five-pack.
Vida's five-layer filtration system offers 98.3% efficiency, according to Aaron Collins, an engineer who tests and reviews masks. They do not have adjustable ear loops, but are a strong snug fit. You can buy a 10-pack for $35 on their website in a wide range of colors.
Well + Before make a similar five-layer filtration mask as Vida, but with a slightly higher 99.1% filtration, according to Collins. They are listed as "petite" sized masks, but come in three different sizes so be careful upon checkout. They cost $1.19 per mask but are currently sold out on their website.
For those looking for the closest thing to a N95 mask, Powercom is your go-to then. A 10-pack costs $12.50 for their KN95 kids mask, and have a highly rated filtration of over 97%.
Some of the other best surgical, KF94, and KN95 masks for your children are Kaze (Mini 10-pack for $40), Happy Life Kids (20-pack for $32.88 on Amazon), Little Lives (50-pack for $24.99), and the non-disposable Happy Masks for $19.
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