On 6 February 2020, Taiwan launched name-based mask sales using national health-insurance cards. Public Television Service reported that the line at one pharmacy had extended into the next alley before 9 a.m. Each pharmacy received 200 adult masks and 50 children’s masks, while the last digit of a person’s ID determined the days on which they could buy.
What distinguishes this queue is that access depended not only on arrival time but on an identity number that assigned a day to join it. The rationing system did not erase the line; it designed who could enter it and when.