COVID related vending machines

[bavaria]

Does your area have COVID related items in vending machines? Meaning masks (disposable and cloth), disinfectant wipes, hand gel, etc. These are common in airports, shopping malls etc and do not have a high mark up vs buying in store.

Berlin U-bahn station:



https://www.theglobeandmail.com/wor...-selling-face-masks-appear-on-warsaw-streets/

 

[tvguy]

Most places have hand sanitizer dispensers for customers here. And our grocery store has free masks for customers needing them. But they still sell packages of masks and hand sanitizer too

 

[bavaria]

Most places have hand sanitizer dispensers for customers here. And our grocery store has free masks for customers needing them. But they still sell packages of masks and hand sanitizer too

That isn't what I mean. Every store/restaurant/public space has sanitizers, and every applicable store sells masks, and hand sanitizer, and they can be bought in markets and from street vendors. I would think that every developed country has those in place.

I'm specifically asking about vending machines, which have been around since April.

 

[Meriweather]

haven't seen any, but then I haven't been very many places in the last 6 months

 

[tvguy]

That isn't what I mean. Every store/restaurant/public space has sanitizers, and every applicable store sells masks, and hand sanitizer, and they can be bought in markets and from street vendors. I would think that every developed country has those in place.

I'm specifically asking about vending machines, which have been around since April.

None here either

 

[rlk]

There are PPE vending machines in some subway stations in New York City.

Edited to add: My husband reminded me that there was a PPE vending machine when we flew I to Newark Airport.

 

[fla4fun]

The only place I have seen vending machines selling PPE is WDW. I saw them outside the parks at the bus stop.

 

[cluvsdisney]

I've only seen them in Penn Station in NYC with a substantial mark up. I want to say $10 for a disposable mask. I think there are other things available but I haven't looked too closely...the masks happen to be eye level.

 

[bavaria]

I've only seen them in Penn Station in NYC with a substantial mark up. I want to say $10 for a disposable mask. I think there are other things available but I haven't looked too closely...the masks happen to be eye level.

WOW! As noted, the prices are not really that out of line compared to stores (usually a 10 pack can be had for under 10 Euro so yours are almost 10x as much?) There is a mark up for convenience/necessity of course, but I don't think the prices are really that bad. I think that it was 3 disposable masks for 2,50 at the one I happened to pass today. The Polish ones I posted were about $1,50 USD

Edited to add, I did have an airport employee in another country tell me recently that local law superseded Lufthansa rules and that everyone had to have a disposable mask. I was suspicious that it was just a way to drive business to the empty airport shops, and paid about 3,50 Euro for 2 masks which were not packaged. On board, many people were wearing cloth masks as usual.

 

[cvjw]

Saw one at the bus stop at the magic kingdom last week. A vending machine for masks - first I had seen. Great idea too if you got to the park and needed a mask!

 

[LuvOrlando]

Haven't seen any but that's brilliant, and the $2.50ish mark per item would be a perfect price point.

 

[bavaria]

Haven't seen any but that's brilliant, and the $2.50ish mark per item would be a perfect price point.

It's interesting because some companies switched pretty early ie in April to avoid loss of business/jobs with fewer people out using airports, shopping malls, train stations, etc. I'm not sure how much business they get relative to a candy/water machine, but I'm sure people are buying some product as this appears to be very common in much of Europe.

Non-food vending machines are common in Asia, and elsewhere. For instance, there are umbrella vending machines in wet locations. We used to have a burger vending machine at school which cooked the patty and heated the bun and melted the cheese separately and then dropped it all together (decades ago).

I guess it is one more example of companies adapting to the pandemic, and is also useful .

 

[LuvOrlando]

It's wonderful that some countries were able to get their hands on these machines in April when the US was struggling with getting enough medical equipment and PPE, I'm curious how these other places were able to do that? Sadly most machines used in the US (and most PPE) have been inexplicably made overseas, which creates a barrier to adaptability which plainly needs to be dealt with going forward.

We also had a lot of vending machines here in the past that made things like hamburgers & pizzas but, if I remember correctly, they weren't successful as American's rejected those in favor of face to face contact. These days, they are mostly relegated to soda and chips in break-rooms and waiting rooms, at least those are the only places I ever see vending machines. As for the PPE idea you shared, these might work in busy places like commuter train stations, during off hours or in places where it might not be feasible to have a human run store.

 

[bavaria]

It's wonderful that some countries were able to get their hands on these machines in April when the US was struggling with getting enough medical equipment and PPE, I'm curious how these other places were able to do that?

To paraphrase Dan Murphy, unfortunately you are living on a different planet right now compared to much of 'rest of world'. (See the COVID and rest of us thread for example)

In January, China sent out the bat signal to their citizens overseas, and they did clean out the Germany pharmacies of disposable masks. But that was restocked and even Poland was able to implement those vending machines in April. Hand sanitizer was never a 'thing' in Germany, but Americans did clear out the stock in late February. That was all restocked. Wipes are not a 'thing' either (bad for the environment, a cloth and solution is seen as better overall) so no shortage there. When you were all hamstering TP, the shops here had sales and pallets of TP outside the shops. (There were some lower end stores which brought in Polish gasp TP for a few weeks, but generally TP here is environmental so similar to tree bark anyways) Other wipes like intimate wipes, face wipes, toilet wipes etc were never low stock. I never saw anyone wearing gloves.

So long answer, not being the US, the vending machines were possible.

Remember too that here you can do a free test with results in less than 24 hours (takes about 10 min from arrival to departure) at any airport, many train stations, most Autobahns with an international border crossing, etc. So definitely we are living in different worlds, and we continue to hope that soon you can come join us on our planet (I mean that sincerely, we all need the US to get healthy and figure this out)

 

[Karin1984]

Schiphol Airport has them, and I have seen them at the larger train stations,like Amsterdam. Masks for sure and some also have hand sanitizer.

Price was a bit higher, but not outrageous.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

IDK, because I don't go places that have any vending machines, except for the occasional soda or a Redbox.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I've heard that DTD has a mask vending machine by the Harbor side bag check. I don't remember seeing one at the DLH side bag check. Of course, the WOD store sells the Disney cloth masks. I would assume that Disney would prefer guests buy those instead of using the vending machine?

 

[GreatLakes]

Now that I think about it I have only been one place over the past few months that had a vending machine, at least one I noticed, and it was bottled drinks only.

 

[mmouse37]

Maybe we need more of these vending machines this year. LOL



This was actually in our hotel lobby in Quebec where stayed pre cruise on the Magic in 2018

MJ

 

[NotUrsula]

I've seen them in 3 places: WDW near the bus stops, at MCO airport, and in the parking garage bridge of a teaching hospital. Basically, any normal salty-snack vending machine (the kind that moves product forward with a rotating metal coil mechanism) can be used to vend PPE, but for the most part it isn't being done here.

I suspect that a big reason is that most of those machines are set up to be used with cash, which not many people are carrying much of now, and we are also in the midst of a coin shortage. (Vending machines in general are not doing that well for that reason. There are some that take credit cards, of course, but by no means all of them can do that. The ones that are most likely to take CC are bottle-goods machines, which are not suitable for this purpose.)

There is also a fairly high likelihood that people are afraid to touch vending machines, because "my gosh, when was the last time THAT was cleaned?" Even the airport car rental companies removed their kiosks, which makes zero sense to me. (You can easily put a dispenser of alcohol wipes next to the machine with signage to wipe down the screen b4 using it; which would be much safer than dealing in person with an agent.)

PS: A post above mentioned the Disney Springs WoD store selling masks. They actually don't sell them there. If you want to buy a Disney cloth mask at the Springs, you have to go to the Co-op store. They are a bit easier to get in the parks, where the larger stores tend to have them behind the registers, but they seem to be aiming those sales at children, because larges are not stocked too often, and XL is not stocked in the stores at all (at least, that is what I was told by the manager at MK's Emporium.)