With the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns are growing over the shortage of some medical supplies, or personal protection equipment. That includes face masks.

Global producers, including those in the United States, say they are stepping up production. But there are fears that demand will outstrip supply.

"If it goes months and months and months, there is always the possibility that we could run short on this and other supplies," said Dr. Randy Orr of Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine. Predicting the demand, Orr said their hospitals stocked up early. 

"I think we are well stocked to be able to handle some certain duration of this. I think the expectation is that it is going to go on for a couple of months at least. I think we are well stocked by being proactive with making sure we are not wasteful about our personal protective equipment, I think we will be OK to weather the storm."

N95 masks are essential for protecting health care workers as they filter out 95 percent of all airborne particles. In order to bolster production, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced it would place an order for 500 million medical grade N95 masks. But that will take time to process.

But it appears medical staff are already learning from their COVID-19 experiences. "The first couple of cases we saw in Illinois, they kept track of how many gowns, gloves masks that would be used," said Orr.

That data showed how best to ration masks, said Orr. "We need to start limiting the number of healthcare providers. Things that are non-essential can be cut out. We deliver a lot of care at the same time. If we are going to bring a meal to a patient, checking vitals, having the same person, one person going in to enter instead of multiple people doing the tests and using, just a way of rationing without causing harm to anyone."

There has also been a sharp consumer demand for masks. But as suppliers focus on providing masks to where they are needed most, the chances of retail pharmacies getting fresh stocks, appear slim. 

Alex Anderson is the General Manager of Oswald's, a six generation pharmacy in Naperville, Illinois. "At a peak , maybe two weeks ago, we were selling maybe 100 boxes a day. It's gotten to the point that all of our distributors, they no longer have them in stock, and if they do they are allocating them to more important place of business such as hospitals and doctors' offices."

If shortages worsen, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidance on extending the use of existing masks and  re-using them where medically possible. But it's hoped, with production ramping it, it won't come to that.