3 ms·

Storage and rotation is your biggest issue.

nitrogen 7y ago
For rotation, can the stockpile be made part of the normal supply chain, so that masks are sold halfway through their shelf life and new ones flow into the stockpile? Or does the size of such a stockpile mean that the masks would expire faster than the market would buy them?
- whatshisface 7y ago
  I don't want all of the masks I buy to be through half their life already. Also, how can the government have the power to do that?
  - dragontamer 7y ago
    > Also, how can the government have the power to do that? Through laws? USA has a strategic reserve of oil. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Petroleum_Reserve_(United_States) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Petroleum_Reserve_(U... I really don't see how masks, or other emergency equipment, changes things. Stockpiling stuff for emergencies seems to be the thing that governments should do.
    - whatshisface 7y ago
      They buy the oil, they don't force everyone to give it to them for a time before being allowed to sell it.
      - samatman 7y ago
        How did you come up with the idea that anyone is advocating for some kind of force majeure? The proposal is for USG to buy a bunch of masks and sell them halfway through their useful life. Absolutely no one, other than you, is interpreting this as a requirement that fresh masks cannot be sold under penalty of law. That's a bizarre and tortured interpretation of what's being discussed here.
  - jerf 7y ago
    Forcing all mask purchases through the government would be challenging. The government simply deciding to buy a lot of masks, then sell them as surplus half way through their shelf life, is just a matter of requisitioning funds. I hope the government is doing stuff like that. I don't plan as if they do, but I hope they do. What's the good of being in a first-world country if the government can't even plan that far ahead?
  - samatman 7y ago
    It's not really about you. As a consumer, you're a blip in the noise, surgical masks are sold to medical professionals. So for them, the question is whether they go through masks fast enough that selling them halfway through their sell-by span is practical. The answer is almost certainly yes, although larger hospitals should maintain their own stockpile. The obvious answer: have major hospitals be holding centers for the US strategic mask reserve. For consumers, there's no reason not to sell a few masks fresh off the line. These goals aren't in conflict.

For rotation, can the stockpile be made part of the normal supply chain, so that masks are sold halfway through their shelf life and new ones flow into the stockpile? Or does the size of such a stockpile mean that the masks would expire faster than the market would buy them?

whatshisface 7y ago
I don't want all of the masks I buy to be through half their life already. Also, how can the government have the power to do that?
- dragontamer 7y ago
  > Also, how can the government have the power to do that? Through laws? USA has a strategic reserve of oil. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Petroleum_Reserve_(United_States) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Petroleum_Reserve_(U... I really don't see how masks, or other emergency equipment, changes things. Stockpiling stuff for emergencies seems to be the thing that governments should do.
  - whatshisface 7y ago
    They buy the oil, they don't force everyone to give it to them for a time before being allowed to sell it.
    - samatman 7y ago
      How did you come up with the idea that anyone is advocating for some kind of force majeure? The proposal is for USG to buy a bunch of masks and sell them halfway through their useful life. Absolutely no one, other than you, is interpreting this as a requirement that fresh masks cannot be sold under penalty of law. That's a bizarre and tortured interpretation of what's being discussed here.
- jerf 7y ago
  Forcing all mask purchases through the government would be challenging. The government simply deciding to buy a lot of masks, then sell them as surplus half way through their shelf life, is just a matter of requisitioning funds. I hope the government is doing stuff like that. I don't plan as if they do, but I hope they do. What's the good of being in a first-world country if the government can't even plan that far ahead?
- samatman 7y ago
  It's not really about you. As a consumer, you're a blip in the noise, surgical masks are sold to medical professionals. So for them, the question is whether they go through masks fast enough that selling them halfway through their sell-by span is practical. The answer is almost certainly yes, although larger hospitals should maintain their own stockpile. The obvious answer: have major hospitals be holding centers for the US strategic mask reserve. For consumers, there's no reason not to sell a few masks fresh off the line. These goals aren't in conflict.