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Maltese Man Left Wondering How To Buy A Face Mask As Pharmacists Are Instructed To Stop Selling Them

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A Maltese man has been left confused as to the best way for him to obtain a face mask after pharmacists were told to stop selling them by a pharmacist lobby group.

The order to stop selling face masks in Malta comes on the same day shops begin to re-open after weeks of being closed, and new rules for entering stores or public transport are rolled out, including needing to wear some form of face protection.

“Yesterday I heard Silvio Schembri say that masks were going to be sold at 95c from now on… tajjeb. But then today I was listening to the radio and I heard the Chamber of Pharmacists telling shops not to sell them because the price was unfair, and I started wondering: can I buy a face mask today or not?” Paul, a Rabat resident, told Lovin Malta.

The Chamber’s instructions to stop the sale of face masks in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic comes after the price of masks was capped at 95c by the government after evidence of exorbitant price hikes are the island.

However, the Chamber is saying that some local pharmacists bought the face masks at a higher price earlier in the pandemic on the government’s urging, and now stand to make a financial loss when they sell the essential masks.

“I went to a shop to get today, and they didn’t have, and I’ve sent my daughter to try elsewhere… issa ma nafx, but if they aren’t selling face masks and now you can’t get on a bus without one or enter a shop without one… but you can’t even buy one anymore…,” Paul trailed off.

He urged the lobby group and the government to think of Malta’s vulnerable people before profits.

“If they could at least say for example ‘you can find masks here, here and here’ it would be good,” he said, “but to just leave us without any options on the day when fines begin…”

He hoped the government wouldn’t leave people without access to masks for too long in the face of the pharmacist blockade.

“Why doesn’t the government start selling face masks themselves? I’m sure the Chamber won’t like that, but the way they left things is a little bit ridiculous, no? It’s very confusing,” he ended.

What do you think of the current impasse’ when it comes to buying face masks in Malta?

READ NEXT: Maltese Bus Drivers Have A Right To Deny Boarding To Unmasked Passengers

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]

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