Have you ever wondered what PPE production looks like?
Burnaby-based Vitacore Industries became the country's first manufacturer of Canadian-made respirators in September of 2020. The company launched last summer, in response to Canada's need for more powerful personal protective equipment.
Vitacore's CAN99 mask filters air more effectively than standard N95 masks worn by medical workers.
Their respirators are suitable for frontline health workers and have been used by many Vancouver Canucks support staff during the team's latest variant outbreak. In fact, they supply most of Canada's NHL teams with respirators.
"We decided to put our R&D team to the test of making what we define as the best respirator in the world," explains president Mikhail Moore.
As N95 production ramps up across the country, there are growing calls for the public to upgrade masks to further stop the spread of the coronavirus.
"It is good for the public to start levelling up their mask and start using a higher level of filtration, given the fact that we are seeing variants that are spreading at a much higher rate," says Moore.
The company now produces more than eight million masks a month at its Burnaby facility.
