Throughout much of the pandemic, we've been told,

masks can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 by receiving a virus.

That CDC director, Rachelle Wollinsky, in a video posted to Twitter last year,

wearing your mask is an important step you can take to keep us all healthy.

With the highly contagious Omicron variant,

a lot of people want or need better protection than what a reusable cloth mask or

disposable surgical mask can offer.

My name is Jerry Dodge, just like the truck.

Take Jerry Dodge. Before the pandemic dodge was a business consultant and retail worker,

she retired early in 2020, not because she had been planning to, but because one of my

co-workers couldn't keep her mask on her face and they were customers who weren't wearing

masks, so I need to protect myself. I have two risk factors, fairly severe health issues.

Dodge has had to make room in her small budget for good masks.

I am wearing double HN95s. I couldn't afford the N95s. So she's scrimped elsewhere.

I spend a lot of time just searching and searching and searching for food. I can afford.

I'm doing a lot less laundry. And she's still struggling to make ends meet.

I did put off my collector bill, which is outrageous this time to purchase the KN95 mask.

And I'm waiting for a shout-off notice before I can then get in touch with them and ask them to

put me on a year-round budget. Consider this. Masks and at-home COVID test kids have become staples

of pandemic life, offering added protection from the coronavirus. But that protection is also

an added cost, a sometimes steep cost for people whose household budgets weren't that big to begin with.

From NPR, I'm Elsa Chang. It's Wednesday, February 2nd.

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