My dad is 70 years old and has a chronic respiratory disease called COPD. A few weeks ago we were discussing his risk profile and we found that he’s 7 times more likely to die from the Coronavirus than the average person. The only thing he could do was stay home, and the only way I could help was stay away. I was and am shook by my helplessness.

I know I’m not alone in this feeling. It seems like the world is changing by the hour and our greatest contribution is sheltering in place.

A few days ago, Apostrophe received an email from the FDA declaring a national shortage of hand sanitizer and asking compounding pharmacies to answer the call. Finally something, anything we could do to help. Our team quickly mobilized and we’re now shifting our excess capacity at the pharmacy to produce hand sanitizer.

Today we’re offering a 2 pack of 2oz bottles of hand sanitizer for $15. Our costs are around $10 and we’re donating all profits to the WHO COVID-19 Response Fund who provides medical equipment to health workers and fast tracks the development of vaccines and treatments. If you’d like to purchase the hand sanitizer, you can here.

We’re a small team, so we’re making the sanitizer in batches of ~5,000. We’ll continue to produce it as long as there’s a shortage.

We know our contribution is minuscule compared to healthcare workers in hospitals, ambulances, waiting rooms, and testing clinics around the world. Not to mention the other front lines: the grocery store clerks, postal workers, Amazon workers, and so many more who allow most of us to isolate safely at home. Thank you.

We’re living through a remarkable time, filled with uncertainty but also with hope. Wishing you peace, safety, and health in the oncoming weeks of isolation.

If you have any other ideas as to how Apostrophe can help in this crisis, please email me at ben.holber@apostrophe.com