FDA Issues a Second Emergency Use Authorization to Decontaminate N95 Respirators
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued its second emergency use authorization (EUA) for decontaminating N95 or N95-equivalent respirators.
The order will support the decontamination of about 750,000 N95 respirators per day, and each respirator can be processed up to 10 times for single-user reuse, according to the press release.
"This EUA is another game changer. It will allow hospitals to decontaminate compatible N95 respirators using vaporized hydrogen peroxide sterilizers that are readily available in approximately 2,000 U.S. hospitals," said FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D. in the press release on the topic. "It's another important step forward in helping to reduce shortages in critical N95 respirators, by allowing for these important devices, when decontaminated, to be reused by health care personnel on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic."