Nghe An: Pharmacies continue to hang signs saying 'out of masks'

On the morning of February 7, most pharmacies in the city had signs saying they were out of masks, making it difficult for people to find and buy this item. Photo: Thanh Phuc

After driving for nearly an hour to nearly 30 pharmacies in Vinh city, including small pharmacies deep in alleys, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan (living in Vinh city) still could not buy medical masks.

Mr. Tuan said that as soon as he stopped his car, he saw a pharmacy employee waving his hand, "We've run out of masks and hand sanitizer for days now." Most large pharmacies had signs saying "Out of masks."

Mr. Tuan said: “I bought 1 box the other day, often go out by motorbike and according to the recommendation to only use it once, so it ran out. Now I want to buy more to use but I can’t find it anywhere in the city. Pharmacies say they don’t have any left at any price.”

Not only Mr. Tuan, but the story of people rushing to buy masks but being "helpless" is quite common because currently in Nghe An market, this item is very scarce.Not only 4-layer activated carbon masks, but also regular 4-layer, 2-3-layer masks are also sold out. When going to drug dealers in the city, they all reported that they were out of stock indefinitely, and it is unknown when more will be available.

Ms. Luu Thi HP, owner of a pharmacy on Phong Dinh Cang Street, said: “The wholesale suppliers of this item all reported that they were out of stock, so there were no more imported goods to sell. Many wholesale suppliers announced that they would not have goods until June. In recent days, there has been no more rushing, jostling, or queuing to buy masks, but the number of people asking to buy masks is still very high.” When Facebook page owners contacted to buy masks, they all reported that they were out of stock, canceled orders, and scheduled to have the goods in 1-2 weeks.

Authorities inspect and handle cases of "price gouging" of masks in the area. Photo: Thanh Phuc

When asked whether there was a situation of stores and pharmacies hoarding masks, Mr. Nguyen Van Thang - Captain of Market Management Team No. 3 said that in recent days, the authorities (Market Management, Health, Economic Police) have been very active, closely checking and resolutely handling cases of taking advantage of the epidemic to push up mask prices, but have not yet discovered any hoarding. If there is any, we will handle it seriously."

"The shortage of masks is real and is a common situation in the whole country, not just in Nghe An. The reason is that before Tet, many stores imported limited goods. Meanwhile, due to the complicated situation of the acute pneumonia epidemic caused by the Corona virus in recent days, people's demand for masks has increased, so many stores are temporarily out of stock.

According to information, manufacturers have resumed operations, so in a short time, masks will be available to meet people's needs. Therefore, people can rest assured and not worry too much."

Mr. Nguyen Van Thang - Captain of Market Management Team No. 3, commented.

While medical masks are scarce, many people have switched to buying cloth masks for use. According to the Ministry of Health's recommendations, people can use cloth masks or regular medical masks. Those who directly care for and treat patients infected with the Corona virus or those who enter new epidemic areas need to be equipped with specialized N95 masks and other special specialized masks.

According to the Ministry of Health, there are currently 38 enterprises producing medical masks, of which about 11 are large-scale production units with a production capacity of 1.245 million pieces/day. However, in the face of the epidemic, medical mask manufacturing enterprises are worried about the lack of raw materials. Many enterprises have committed to mobilizing the maximum capacity of equipment lines and all human resources to work 24/24 hours/day, to ensure maximum response to the demand for masks for disease prevention and control. Therefore, it is hoped that in the coming time, the supply of masks will stabilize again, meeting the needs of the people.