I wrote " IF you should find yourself short of supplies" Jackie. There is risk in everything. Our task playing lab tech is to quantify risk rationally. We are required to learn a little basic microbiology to make decisions grounded in science not fear. Let's think about what we are doing instead of blindly relying on dogma. Confidence in safety is actually higher when the tech performs the sanitation personally.
BTW... it doesn't matter how cheap they are. My script for 30 G was all the pharmacist had last week. You think she was going to allow me to have a 21 G? Not on your life! AB-1743 (2013-2014), commonly known as NPSS or the "non-prescription syringe sale law" completely deregulated needle and syringe sale in CA on Jan 1 2015.
Needles and syringes are an over-the-counter-item no longer requiring an Rx. Good luck trying to find a pharmacist who knows the law. I love those crazy conspiracy theories that attribute the epidemic of irrational thought and dumbing down of America to stuff raining down on us from jets. The Surgeon General needs to investigate this as a national health crisis. I know for a fact that the contrails forming a tight checkerboard over the Carson Valley at 5 am I saw when camping last summer were just commercial pilots who were temporarily confused or lost.
