States Throw Out Millions of Pandemic Materials Due to Expiration Dates, Costs of Storage

Three years following the COVID-19 pandemic, states are left dealing with excess protective gear as supplies are thrown out as they expire.

With overabundance and fewer requests for the supplies, Ohio auctioned off 393,000 gowns for only $2,451 and threw away more than 7 million gowns, expired masks, gloves, and other materials. The expiring supplies had cost roughly $29 million in federal money.

This situation is happening all over the country as items age and expire, with a looming deadline to allocate federal COVID-19 cash approaches next year. States will be faced with deciding how much to invest in maintaining warehouses and supply stockpiles.

At least 15 states have thrown out piles and piles of PPE due to expiration, surpluses, and lack of takers, according to an Associated Press investigation. Over 18 million masks, 22 million gowns, 500,000 gloves, and more have gone straight to the trash. And that only includes states that gave the AP exact figures.

“What a real waste. That’s what happens when you don’t prepare when you have a bust-and-boom public health system,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “It shows that we really have to do a better job of managing our stockpiles.”

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