Vending machine for masks, gel and gloves

Vending machine for masks, gel and gloves - in France

On 29 April Le Parisen newspaper documented the distribution of masks, gel, and gloves at a vending machine in a small village.

When a vending machine landed in Saint-Andre Farivillers, an Oisien village with a population of 500, during the Coronavirus crisis, a 42-year-old teacher rushed to buy a mask. The first person to die of Covid-19 in the region was a teacher. But almost the whole village is buying the masks. The machine is so busy, it needs to be replenished regularly.

On the way to l’Oise there were already many automated vending machines dispensing vegetables, eggs, bread, and pizzas. ‘Distribprotec’ installed the new mask vending machine near the school. Normally, the customers for vending machines are restaurants and bakeries, rather than the mayor’s office.

Here, the mask vending machines takes 3 euro for one hydro-alcochemical gel tube and 11.40 euros for a pack containing 100 ml of gel and a washable mask (that can be washed up to 10 times).

In the village, there is no pharmacy. The nearest pharmacy is in Breteuil. The company’s maintenance director said the demand is ‘crazy’ for the products from this machine. He said that he fills the machine and two hours later it is empty. He says he fills it several times a day.

A dozen or so mask vending machines have been installed in Hauts-de-France, and the company is in discussion to install them in Paris. They just need electricity and a location.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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