Also notable is that proper use of an N95 takes training. Unlike with surgical masks, N95 fit is specific (you normally get them sized when issued at a hospital). In addition, most people have bad habits around mask removal - you should always remove masks by the bands, but people tend to touch the mask surface itself. And with any mask removal, you should always wash your hands (in a particular manner that I'm sure readers are familiar with by now). Finally if, when removing a mask, the user touches the interior of the mask after touching an infected surface then reapplying the mask can lead to infection.

Not doing any of these steps can lead to infections. Simply issuing N95s to a general population might not help, if the population is improperly trained.

Surgical masks "work" by preventing the wearer from spreading diseases to others. In aggregate, this can help a population, but in specific cases it might not protect you. N95s work by protecting the wearer, with only secondary benefits to others (the N95s with "nozzles" on the mask surface provide no protection to other parties, as outflow is unfiltered).