The N95 shortage America can't seem to fix

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

8. As far as I know

Most other countries have put export controls on them, so they aren't leaving the country. While production is up worldwide, there still isn't enough in most areas. The shortage stems from the special material that the filtering part is made of. The machines that make it are complex and expensive and while the machines themselves can be ramped up to increase production(I think pretty much all companies that make this fabric have ramped up), making, installing, and calibrating new machines takes time, like upwards of a year.

[link:https://www.cbsnews.com/news/n95-mask-shortage-melt-blown-filters/|]

"There are only five or six companies across the globe that make these machines, and they're not inexpensive. These are sizable machines, a lot of technology, a lot of air handling, a lot of electronics, a lot of precision moving parts," Rousse said. "Normally it's nine to 12 months before you could get a machine delivery."

Older article from April, but I haven't really heard much has changed other then speculation that they might be able to get new machine lead times down to 6 months.