California will begin receiving shipments of the much-needed N95 mask from Chinese auto maker BYD in the coming days after federal regulators approve the company’s respirator, Governor Gavin Newsom announced Monday.

The mask is part of Newsom’s $ 1 billion deal struck with BYD in April, which has been postponed after carmakers have difficulty certifying the effectiveness of their masks. After BYD missed a second deadline to get the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health certification, state officials gave the company an extension on Friday.

With the certification agreement announced Monday, Newsom said an agreement with BYD would ensure California had a reliable protective pipe to protect key workers during the pandemic.

“Providing California frontline health care workers and respondents with the protective equipment they need is an important part of our response to COVID-19,” Newsom said in a statement Monday. “This new supply of N95 masks, as well as surgical masks that have been provided by this contract, is changing the game and playing an important role in our country’s public security and reopening strategy.”

California originally planned to order 300 million highly protective respirators for $ 990 million, with state officials paying $ 495 million in advance of the company. After BYD, which has a U.S. subsidiary headquartered in Los Angeles County, failing to meet the contract deadline on April 30 for its N95 mask being certified, the company was forced to return half of California’s down payment. BYD missed the revised deadline on May 31 so that the mask was approved by federal regulators before the deadline was pushed back, this time until June 12.

The state contract with BYD says 150 million masks will be sent to California this month and beyond. California pay $ 3.30 for each N95 mask. The price is higher than N95 masks in nonpandemic times, but there is a shortage of respirators worldwide, which filters 95% of particles and provides important protection for nurses and other important workers.

California’s agreement with BYD has been greeted with skepticism since Newsom announced its existence on MSNBC “The Rachel Maddow Show” in April. The contract is then kept for one month. The governor’s office at first refused to reveal public documents or many details to MPs and journalists citing fears that the mask might be confiscated if the information was released.

In addition to the N95 mask, the state agreed to pay BYD $ 54.9 million to buy 100 million surgical masks. The masks have been sent to the country.

Over the next two months, BYD’s contract with California also gave the country the option to buy an additional 250 million N95 respirators for $ 825 million and 112.5 million surgical masks for $ 61.8 million.

The Newsom office said a contract with BYD would ensure California has an adequate supply of masks now and in the future. California’s contract with BYD requires that N95 masks meet federal health and safety standards by obtaining NIOSH certification. It is not clear what caused the delay for BYD to have the mask certified until the announcement on Monday.

In a statement last month to The Times, NIOSH said it told BYD on May 4 that on-site visits to factories and company production facilities in China had resulted in an “unacceptable” rating. The agency also said “the review of the documentation provided to NIOSH for the design, manufacture and quality inspection of the device is cause for concern.”

NIOSH declined to elaborate on the specific reasons for his refusal, saying the information was confidential under federal rules, but added in a statement that the decision was “based on a number of factors.”

BYD submitted a total of four applications for N95 respirators, according to a letter from the regulatory body. Three applications were rejected and the fourth was withdrawn, an NIOSH official told The Times.

BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, announced in March that its vehicle facility in Shenzhen will produce masks and hand sanitizers. The company is well known for building electric vehicles, including battery-powered buses, and operating vehicle manufacturing facilities in Lancaster.