Local pharmacists weigh in on children’s medicine shortage
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Doctors are now warning that children’s medicine may be hard to come by as we enter a tripledemic.
“We’re definitely a little bit lighter than we usually are,” Irondequoit Pharmacy Dr. Dave Seelman said.
As we head into the season for sickness, the search for children’s medication in pharmacies continues to grow.
“A lot of drug shortages out there. The big ones right now, though, are the medications for children,” Seelman said. “So you’ve probably heard about the amoxicillin shortage, which is one of the most common antibiotics that you give to kids.”
Seelman said when it comes to the medication they have, what you see is what you get. With the flu hitting harder this year, it’s putting a strain on pharmacies.
Doctors are now warning that children's medicine may be hard to come by as we enter a tripledemic.
“So they’re calling it the ‘tripledemic’ it’s the combination of flu, RSV and COVID that have all kind of created this perfect storm where a lot of the medications that we need are currently out of stock from our suppliers,” Seelman said.
Because of that demand, CVS and Walgreens are now limiting the amount of children’s cold and flu meds you can buy.
“If you go to a shelf at any of the drugstores, you’ll see empty shelves for Ibuprofen and Tylenol,” Alexander Pharmacy Dr. Nilesh Patel said. “And this is basically to help control the body aches as well as fever and so forth.”
Doctors said you should consider getting your vaccinations this year, buying generic store brands, checking with other local pharmacies, or using a home remedy to get you and your family healthy for the holidays.
“I think it’s very important for people not to worry about it,” Patel said. “Certainly do have some of those Tylenol and Ibuprofen, especially for young kids in your house, make sure they’re not expired, but do keep some, you don’t need to have tons of this in stock.”
Over the weekend, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on the FDA to investigate these shortages.
Drug manufacturers said they’re operating at full capacity and they didn’t expect the flu season to be this bad or start this early.