When the coronavirus pandemic took hold in an unprepared U.S., many states like Ohio scrambled for masks and other protective gear. Supplies were so limited in 2020 that the state bought millions of medical gowns from a marketing and printing company and spent about $20 million to try to get personal protective equipment made in-state.
Three years later, as the grips of the pandemic have loosened, Ohio and other states are now trying to deal with an excess of protective gear, ditching their supplies in droves.
With expiration dates passing and few requests to tap into the stockpile, Ohio auctioned off 393,000 gowns for just $2,451 and ended up throwing away another 7.2 million, along with expired masks, gloves and other materials. The now expiring supplies had cost about $29 million in federal money.
A similar reckoning is happening around the country. Items are aging, and as a deadline to allocate federal COVID-19 cash approaches next year, states must decide how much to invest in maintaining warehouses and supply stockpiles.
Just in time for things to start getting bad again!
How can masks and gowns go bad in a few years?
My understanding is that’s the lifespan that the packaging can reasonably be expected to remain sterile. After a number of years, the packaging may start to degrade and no longer be air tight, which means it’s no longer sterile.
However, these aren’t typically sterile materials, I realized as I was writing. I honestly don’t know, maybe someone else can chime in
Edit: after reading the article, they’re said to be no longer as safe/protective for the person wearing them, but I’m very curious how a date was established, and who determined that it was only good for a few years
Everything goes bad. When milk goes bad it’s easy to see, smell, taste. Just like milk, it’s not like every mask and gown suddenly goes bad on the date printed on the box. Unlike milk, there’s no easy way a consumer can check if their mask or gown is still good or not. It’s best just to throw it away and get a new one. Usually you’re just throwing out one box and not 10 million of them but 2020 was wild.
It seems like states need to implement cycling through its strategic reserve with hospitals. That way, you aren’t throwing out as much.
That would require two things - a functioning public hospital system and a societal commitment to preparedness. Since 46% of the voting US population and 53% of elected national officials are diametric opposed to any preparedness expenditure that doesn’t involve the ability to blow things up, it will never happen.
I’d argue, like a pack of condoms only half used, that its money well spent.
