Medical oxygen plays a crucial role in treating those who are seriously ill with COVID-19, and the compressed gas industry, including Messer, continues to work diligently to safely and reliably supply health care systems in the U.S. and Canada with this life-saving gas.
The recent spikes in COVID-19 related hospitalizations in Florida and other hotspots have made it necessary to prioritize oxygen for medical use over most non-medical applications, in order to respond to the growing needs of COVID patients. Medical oxygen prioritization will remain in place as long as necessary to meet this extreme demand.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, CGA member companies have responded to the demand for medical oxygen through a range of measures including sourcing additional medical gas cylinders, converting cylinders and containers to medical oxygen use, and where possible, increasing production and distribution capacity.
To read the full CGA statement and for more information on this topic, visit the CGA website.
Some of the COVID-19 vaccines currently under development require storage and transportation at extremely low temperatures. Dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) is needed to reach and maintain those temperatures.
The majority of carbon dioxide (CO2) and dry ice in the U.S. and Canada is produced by member companies of the Compressed Gas Association (CGA).
According to CGA members, the current production capacity for carbon dioxide and dry ice is expected to be sufficient to meet anticipated demand from vaccine manufacturers. There is also potential capacity to increase production and distribution of dry ice for COVID-19 vaccines, if needed.
To read the full CGA statement and for more information on this topic, visit the CGA website.
As an essential supplier of oxygen to medical facilities across the nation, Messer is taking proactive steps to enable a safe and reliable supply of medical oxygen and related services to hospitals and medical care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Teams at Messer are proactively working with hospitals to understand their current and projected oxygen supply needs. We are vigilantly monitoring their usage rates to prioritize shipments and identify capacity constraints at hospitals with rising demand for critical medical USP oxygen.
At Messer, we appreciate the continued heroic efforts of the healthcare community and remain committed to supplying our healthcare customers and communities with life-saving medical oxygen. The health and safety of our employees, their families, our communities and our customers remain our top priorities.
At Messer, the health and safety of our employees, their families, our community and our customers remain our top priorities. Due to the rapidly changing outlook of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, we want to provide an update on Messer’s contingency plans to protect the safety of our employees and ensure supply reliability during this global health emergency.
To date, Messer’s operations have not been adversely impacted by COVID-19, and our ability to supply the associated gases to our customers in the Americas remains unchanged as a result of the outbreak. Certain CO2 feed gas suppliers have reduced or suspended operations, however Messer is compensating where reasonably possible by sourcing from other production points in our networks.
Messer leadership continues to closely monitor the status of the outbreak and has taken proactive measures to ensure business resiliency and supply continuity. Our business plans are focused on supply stability and exist in a relatively flexible state, ready to meet our customers’ needs.
On March 19, 2020, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued federal guidance on Essential Critical Infrastructure sectors to help control the coronavirus outbreak. As the world’s largest privately held industrial gases company, our business at Messer is deemed essential at a national level. At the state level, recent “lockdown” orders issued by the Governors of several US states that cite CISA guidelines have called on critical infrastructure companies such as Messer to fulfill their “special responsibility in these times to continue operations.”
Messer’s products include medical oxygen for hospitals, helium for MRI machines, and solutions for food production, preservation and distribution. These products are crucial to the US economy and address critical needs of US citizens. Messer supports several Essential Critical Infrastructure sectors designated by the CISA, including:
For employees in business-critical functions who must report to work for Messer to fulfill its role in supplying Critical Infrastructure, appropriate measures are in place to ensure their ability to maintain business continuity and appropriate social distance. All other employees have been asked to continue working from home or remotely until further notice.
Messer remains confident that we have the right people, plans and escalation processes in place to respond in an agile manner to the rapidly changing COVID-19 situation. If you have any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact us at: Ask.messer@messer-us.com.
For your information, additional information on COVID-19 can be found here:
The medical sector is dynamic and continues to evolve at a rapid pace in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the need for quality medical gas supply and premium service is more important than ever—as is the pressure on healthcare centers to ensure reliable supply and code compliance of critical life support systems.
You take care of your patients—Messer will take care of everything else.
Messer has developed Hospital Services to help support these critical life support systems' medical gas infrastructure.
Ask our team. We’re ready to help.
