During a conference call with the heads of the regional health departments and a meeting with manufacturers of surgical masks and their suppliers, Ukraine’s Health Ministry noted the problem of the shortage of masks in pharmacy chains, the press service of Ukraine’s Center for Public Health has said.
According to Chief Commercial Officer of the one of the pharmacy chains Andriy Panimatchenko, the demand for medical masks has grown by 15 times, so pharmacy chains and suppliers are not able to fully meet the demand.
“The demand for masks in connection with the new information feeds on coronavirus has grown 15 times. We turned to suppliers, but their masks have run out too. None of the suppliers can meet the demand. The fact is that most masks come from China,” he said.
Anton Avrynsky, CEO of one of the services engaged in the search and delivery of drugs, said that the shortage of masks and drugs has not yet been reported.
“We do not report a lack of disposable medical masks or medicines in pharmacies in Ukraine as of yet. Vitamins, cold medicines and antiviral drugs of various price categories are sufficient supply in for all pharmacy outlets. On the contrary, because of the abnormally warm winter, much fewer user requests are recorded for this category of medicines. Let’s hope that the epidemics of various viruses, including coronavirus, will bypass Ukraine,” he said.
Only one among five pharmacies contacted by Interfax-Ukraine said medical masks were not in supply.
The Pharmacy of Hormonal Drugs chain said masks are available in all its pharmacies.
According to the 911 pharmacy chain, masks are in supply, but not at all of its pharmacies.
“They are available on order. The period for processing orders from the supplier is from three to a maximum of five business days,” it said.
According to the World Health Organization, masks should not be worn by people without symptoms of a respiratory illness.
