Facing major shortages, major retail pharmacies like CVS (CVS) and Walgreens (WBA) are limiting purchases of children’s over-the-counter drugs as respiratory virus cases soar.
An early start to the flu season – along with the circulation of three different respiratory viruses that affect children, such as influenza, RSV and COVID-19 – has created what is known as a ‘triple epidemic’ . The confluence of viral infections is putting pressure on pediatric care facilities as well as providers of common cold and flu treatments, such as those that treat fever and pain.
Walgreens told Yahoo Finance that due to soaring demand, online shopping was limited.
“Retailers nationwide are facing vendor satisfaction issues due to increased demand for over-the-counter pediatric fever products,” the company said in a statement. “While Walgreens continues to have products to support our customers and patients, we have implemented an online purchase limit of only 6 per online transaction to prevent excessive purchasing behavior,” said the company in a press release.
“For customers looking for items, our website is frequently updated with the latest available store inventory information throughout the day,” the company added.
CVS has limited purchases to two pain relievers per online and in-store purchase.
“We are committed to meeting the needs of our customers and are working with our suppliers to ensure continued access to these items,” the company said in a statement.
Retail grocer Kroger (KR) has also limited its purchases to two painkillers or four cold and flu medicines in stores.
Walmart (WMT) and Amazon (AMZN) have not imposed any limits so far.
The restrictions come several weeks after anecdotal reports of empty shelves across the country.
Pediatricians, family doctors and parents have taken to social media to point out the shortages.
Syrups like Children’s Motrin and Children’s Tylenol, both made by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), are out of stock online, as well as Children’s Advil, made by GSK (GSK) spin-off Haleon. In recent weeks, there have also been shortages of adult cold and flu medications.
The problem is not just in the United States. Canadian pharmacies began to limit their supplies last month and therefore increased their imports.
In a recent interview, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said supply has increased, but “the challenge is demand” amid an unusual respiratory disease season. .
Johnson & Johnson, meanwhile, said in a statement that it is “not experiencing widespread shortages of children’s Tylenol or children’s Motrin.” He added that while he recognizes there may be shortages in some stores, “we…are doing everything we can to make sure people have access to the products they need, including maximizing our production capacity, operating our sites 24/7 and continuously shipping product.
Haleon declined to comment and redirected a Yahoo Finance media request to the Consumer Healthcare Products Association.
The CHPA released a statement on Monday that mandated manufacturers were operating around the clock to meet demand and there were no widespread shortages.
“However, with demand for children’s pain and fever medication reaching unprecedented levels after this early and severe flu season (as well as RSV and COVID cases), we understand why some retailers have adjusted to impose limits on purchases…sales of internal pediatric painkillers are up 65% compared to the same period last year,” the statement said.
The CHPA also noted that flu cases are down, according to the latest national data.
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