On Monday morning, Walgreens lifted its online purchasing restrictions for children’s pain and fever medicines after weeks of strong demand that stressed supplies, a spokesman for the company, Zoe Krey said.
Only medications bought online were subject to restrictions at Walgreens. No restrictions are applied to prescription drugs bought from pharmacies.
Walgreens Lifts Purchase Limits
The adjustment was made as a result of several stores, notably CVS and Rite Aid, limiting sales due to the increased demand for children’s pain and fever drugs. Sales of drugs for treating pain and fever in children increased by 65% over the previous year due to a particularly bad respiratory virus season.
There is presently a two-product limit on all children’s pain relief medicines at CVS’s stores and online, the company said in a statement to CNN on Monday. The restrictions were put in place, according to a chain representative, to guarantee equitable access for all our consumers, and CVS was coordinating with its suppliers to maintain the availability of the products.
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association, which speaks for manufacturers of over-the-counter drugs, stated last month that although manufacturers were working around the clock to offer more drugs to pharmacies, there was no set timetable for when supply would catch up to demand.
Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that since then, flu and RSV activity have peaked in the US. Cases of COVID-19 continue to increase.
However, according to CDC statistics published on Friday, flu and other respiratory virus activity is still high or very high in around half of states, and the US is still dealing with a number of respiratory viruses that are circulating at high levels.
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Shortages Of Other Medications
Due to the overwhelming quantity of patients, several pediatric units were even obliged to pitch tents in parking lots.
Walgreens limited online purchases of Tylenol, Advil, and Motrin to six goods per order, while CVS limited online and in-store purchases to two products per individual.
Other antiviral and antibacterial medications, such as the antibiotic amoxicillin for children, were also reported to be in short supply throughout this flu season.
Children’s Tylenol, often known as acetaminophen, is out of stock for shipping on Walgreens’ website but is still available for purchase in stores. The online and in-store stock of pediatric Motrin (ibuprofen) remains depleted.
CVS has not yet declared the end of its purchase limitations. Neither influenza nor RSV offers a particularly serious threat to the general US population, but both can be harmful to the elderly, infants, and undiagnosed.
Both viruses, as well as the most recent strain of COVID-19, XBB.1.5, are highly contagious, as numerous parents discovered this winter.
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