With the takeover of the Omicron variant, whose contagiousness is particularly virulent, many scientists are now advising to switch to the FFP2 mask, especially indoors. A recommendation that has visibly convinced the French: in Lyon, the shelves of hypermarkets and pharmacies are robbed. And no supply in sight.
Philippe Costa, a pharmacist in the city, has also been out of service since Christmas: “We hardly had any more demand for FFP2s and there, we exhausted all our stock and we still have requests. Our wholesalers do not have any in stock. I try to have suppliers who could provide me with small quantities and at reasonable prices, because there too, we find everything …
According to this health specialist, these tensions are explained: “Everyone sees that there are cases [de Covid] around him. I think there is a craze as we could have seen at the beginning for hydroalcoholic gels, for gloves … It creates a craze that is not always founded. It’s just that they’re scared, especially old people in the city“, he assures us.
More adjusted on the face and more filtering, this mask is indeed more protective (it does not yawn on the sides, unlike the surgical one) and its material, but also more restrictive to wear. Concretely, an FFP2 protects the respiratory tract against fine and toxic particles, dust or certain viruses. It protects both its wearer and those around it with a “double filtration” system.
“There is no shortage“Concerning the supply of FFP2 masks, assured Gabriel Attal, the government spokesman, Tuesday January 4 on France Inter.”Supply channels are functioning“, he added, recalling that a”state stock of masks has been replenished“, comprising”several hundred million FFP2 masks“.
In town, the mask – mandatory – remains mostly surgical, but we see “duckbills”: “I have lung weakness. My doctor recommended them to me because they are still much more effective. It’s part, maybe, of the things that could have stemmed a little more“, confides this passer-by.
“When there are people in closed places, I prefer to put an FFP2, especially at this time. It is true that it is less easy to bear, but hey … And it costs more, of course!“breathes this Lyonnaise.
They are priced at six euros for 25 in supermarkets, twice as much as surgical. But its duration of protection can go up to eight hours, against 4 hours maximum for the surgical mask.
Covid-19: “We have exhausted all our stocks of FFP2 masks and we still have requests” says a pharmacist in Lyon
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