CVS, Walgreens limit children's medicine purchases amid shortage - Spectrum News NY1

CVS and Walgreens are limiting purchases of children’s symptom relievers owed to shortages of Children’s Tylenol and different medications amid a “tripledemic” of COVID-19, flu and RSV cases crossed the United States.

CVS has implemented a two-product bounds connected each children’s symptom alleviation products purchased astatine its pharmacies oregon online. 

Walgreens has acceptable a six-item headdress connected over-the-counter fever relievers purchased online. It is not limiting in-store purchases.

In a connection sent to Spectrum News connected Tuesday, CVS said the bounds was acceptable to “ensure equitable entree for each our customers.” 

“We’re committed to gathering our customers’ needs and are moving with our suppliers to guarantee continued entree to these items,” the connection said.

Walgreens did not instantly respond to a petition for remark from Spectrum News but told different media outlets the bounds is “due to accrued request and assorted supplier challenges.”

Johnson & Johnson, the shaper of Tylenol, said it is not experiencing wide shortages of Children’s Tylenol, but acknowledged the merchandise whitethorn beryllium “less readily available” astatine immoderate stores. The institution said it is moving its accumulation lines astir the clock.

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association said, too, determination is not a wide shortage of children’s symptom relievers, but it noted that an aboriginal and terrible flu season, combined with cases of COVID and RSV, person led to a 65% spike successful the merchantability of specified drugs compared to this clip past year.

The radical encouraged consumers to “buy lone what they need, truthful different families tin find and acquisition the medicines they are seeking.”

Doctors and different experts accidental the occupation could persist done the wintertime cold-and-flu play but should not past arsenic agelong arsenic different caller shortages of babe look oregon medicine drugs.

Aside from over-the-counter products, the medicine antibiotic amoxicillin besides is successful abbreviated proviso owed to accrued demand, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The cause is often utilized to dainty chemoreceptor and pharynx infections successful children.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said earlier this period it was seeing its highest level of flu hospitalizations successful a decade. There person been 30 pediatric flu deaths this season.

RSV infections, meanwhile, person been importantly higher than successful past years. Health officials accidental the spike is not astonishing due to the fact that immoderate children who mightiness person been infected by RSV a twelvemonth oregon 2 agone if they had not been isolated during the pandemic are being exposed to the microorganism for the archetypal clip now, on with toddlers and infants. 

Most kids are infected by RSV by property 2, according to the CDC. Most radical retrieve successful a week oregon two, but the microorganism tin origin superior illness, particularly successful infants, different young children and older adults. According to the CDC, the microorganism kills 100 to 300 children ages 5 and younger and hospitalizes much than 58,000 kids successful that property radical each year.

RSV cases, however, are down much than 60% since aboriginal November, CDC information shows.

COVID-19 infections nationally fell past week to 455,466 — an mean of 65,000 a time — but are inactive astir 75% higher than successful precocious October. 

If caretakers are incapable to find cold-and-flu medicine for their child, health experts recommend checking for generics oregon astatine different stores. The shortages whitethorn alteration astir the state oregon adjacent wrong communities. Caretakers tin besides interaction their doc to inquire astir alternate treatments.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.