SALT LAKE CITY — Eclipse mania is building and so is demand for the glasses that make it safe to view the first total solar eclipse to cross the U.S. in 99 years.

Lines are forming, prices are rising and shelves are emptying as people scurry to obtain special eyewear to view the sun Monday as it is obscured by the passing moon. Complicating the rising demand from last-minute shoppers was a recent recall by Amazon that forced libraries and health centers around the country to recall glasses they gave away or sold.

Hopeful eclipse-watchers line up outside the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City to get eclipse glasses from the gift shop Thursday. Eclipse mania is building and so is demand for the glasses that make it safe to view the first total solar eclipse to cross the U.S. in 99 years. Photo by Scott Sommerdorf/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP

For stores that still have the glasses, prices are spiking. The ones still for sale on Amazon were going for steep prices Friday, around $11-$12 each.

Nancy West, a 67-year-old retired nurse from Utah, was delighted to be among the final people to get glasses Thursday before the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City ran out. It sold nearly 90,000 pairs at $2 each this week.

“I will never see a total eclipse again because I will not live long enough,” West said. “It’s an opportunity to understand how our universe works and what part I play in that.”

Amy Watts and her 13-year-old son, Ethan, waited in line for an hour at the planetarium so they could secure a safe way to watch the historic moment.

“We heard the frenzy of getting ahold of some eclipse glasses so we thought, ‘What the heck, we’ll give it a shot,”‘ said Watts, a health coach. “We actually scored some.”

Doctors around the U.S. warn that people can damage their eyes staring directly at the sun, even the slimmest sliver of it.

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