Residents in Lincoln and around the nation are continuing to do battle with COVID-19, the flu, and RSV, and the holiday season is helping the spread. As people gather for end-of-year celebrations, the Tripledemic is partying, too. With children getting sick along the way, there now exists a shortage of children’s liquid medicine.
“It’s been a few weeks now,” Bryce Walker, pharmacist at Kohls, tells KLIN News. “I think it was towards the end of October that they were foreseeing that this might happen. And then it’s been since November and December when RSV and flu and COVID have somewhat increased.”
As a result, pharmacies are doing their best to accommodate the needs of children, many of whom are incapable or are simply too young to take tablets. Rationing liquid formulas and compounding pills into liquid medication are two ways that pharmacists are keeping busy these days.
As for when the problem will come to an end, there could soon be an uptick in manufacturing to match the ever-increasing demand from the public. Walker says that until then, parents should work with their pharmacists to see how they can acquire antibiotics and drugs like acetaminophen for their kids.