With the omicron variant of COVID-19 sweeping the nation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently updated its mask guidelines, noting that “properly fitted” N95 and KN95 respirators offer the highest level of protection.

Many health professionals have taken a stronger tack on the issue: “Cloth masks are little more than facial decorations. There’s no place for them in light of omicron,” Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and CNN medical analyst recently said on CNN Newsroom.

Indeed, many Americans were making moves to upgrade their face coverings even before the official updates from the CDC. Consider that between November and December of 2021, searches for “N95 mask” on ASI’s product database ESP rose 1,586%. Searches for masks in general were up slightly – 6.2% – between November and December, according to ESP data.

1,586%
Percent increase in “N95 mask” searches in ESP during December compared to the previous month

The advent of trade show season and employees returning to work after holiday travel are contributing factors to the increase, speculates Billie Jo Mathusek, chief marketing officer at Top 40 distributor Proforma (asi/300094). “I think from a general protection standpoint, we’re seeing a lot more people searching for that upgrade,” she adds.

Mathusek and other distributors and suppliers in the promo industry who have been selling personal protective equipment (PPE) throughout the pandemic confirmed an uptick in demand for PPE in general in recent weeks. Many were seeing increased requests for N95 or KN95 respirators, though several noted that surgical and cloth masks are still strong sellers.

“We are indeed selling more KN95 and N95 masks and continue to bring them in,” says Jonathan Isaacson, CEO/chairman of Top 40 supplier Gemline (asi/56070) and the 2021 Counselor Person of the Year. But, he adds, it’s not been a huge spike in demand, but rather part of the regular replenishment of product offerings. “It’s a fairly normal cadence, much like what we do with backpacks or drinkware. The big difference is that we live in a time that’s not so normal on many dimensions.”

Stackable Sensations (asi/332999) in Parsippany, NJ, has been selling “much more PPE this month than in the last six months,” according to Shari Verrone, president. She adds that inquiries and sales for medical masks have been much higher than for reusable cloth face coverings.

PPE sales had drifted lower in the last 12 months for Tucson, AZ-based distributor Williams & Associates (asi/360450), but with omicron, inquiries for respirators that offer greater filtration have been up. “As of last week, we didn’t hold any inventory on KN95s, but we have two very large casino clients wanting to jump on the KN95 train, so we’ll place an order to fulfill their needs,” says owner Bert Williams. “Once the KN95s arrive, the fact that we have inventory will give our sales staff a reason to call their clients and touch base.”

Some distributors are seeing increased demand for other PPE, beyond respirators, due to omicron. Chicago-based iPromo Promotional Products (asi/229471) is getting requests for masks, gloves and sanitizer, as well as at-home COVID tests for organizations, according to Leo Friedman, CEO and founder. “FDA-approved COVD tests are hard to find in meaningful quantities at reasonable pricing, but the demand continues to be strong,” Friedman adds. “There’s also a lot of confusion and fly-by-night test-sellers, so definitely tread with caution when sourcing and vetting potential suppliers.”

It’s unlikely the promo industry will see the volume of PPE sales that it did in the early days of the pandemic, now that supply chain wrinkles for medical supplies have largely been ironed out. It’s “no longer the Wild West it was in the beginning of the pandemic,” Friedman says.

Terry McGuire, senior vice president at Top 40 distributor HALO Branded Solutions (asi/356000) agrees: “We’ve seen an increase in PPE sales since late last year, although it’s nothing near the peak in 2020. … [But] we’re not experiencing the market volatility for PPE – both availability and price volatility – that we experienced throughout 2020. We have well-established, reliable sources and are better equipped to fill spikes in demand.”

The important thing, industry experts say, is to make sure you stay educated on documentation and product specs for masks and other PPE and only do business with trusted suppliers to avoid the bad actors and fraudulent or counterfeit products that still crop up in the space.

“I don’t think PPE will ever fully go away,” Verrone says. “Being knowledgeable and up-to-date is super-important as lives depend on it.”