[Terretta]

Hasn't apologized, but has admitted that the reason Americans were initially discouraged from using them is because there was a shortage. From a Fauci interview with The Street:

“We were concerned the public health community, and many people were saying this, were concerned that it was at a time when personal protective equipment, including the N95 masks and the surgical masks, were in very short supply,” Fauci told The Street. "We wanted to make sure the people, namely, the healthcare workers, who were brave enough to put themselves in harm's way to take care of people who you know were infected with coronavirus, and the danger of them getting infected. We did not want them to be without the equipment they needed."

-- https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-c...

[Steltek]

After watching people's behavior, which varies from selfish, bizarre, or sociopathic, they weren't wrong to be concerned. Especially when it appears the Federal government would have been logistically incapable of, or unwilling to, securing a good supply for healthcare workers, if they did tell the truth and provoke a mask buying panic. The list of shameful actions this year is going to be longer than a CVS receipt for a single package of Tylenol.