Local Pharmacies Experiencing Cold and Flu Medicine Shortage

As respiratory illnesses continue to spread, you may have noticed some gaps in the shelves when searching for medicine.

If you haven’t gotten sick this year, there is a chance you know someone who has and have heard how difficult it’s been to find cold and flu medicine across the country.

“That’s very concerning that if we don’t have medication to take care of the sicknesses that are going to be happening,” said Ruth Bogden of Berlin.

Months before cases generally reach their peak, respiratory illnesses like the flu, RSV, common cold and COVID-19 are already causing a strain.

“I work in a school so I’m around kids a lot,” Bogden said. “A lot of the sicknesses we’re seeing in schools as well, a lot of absentees.”

Greg McKenna, owner of Higganum’s Nutmeg Pharmacy, has felt the surge from his perspective behind the counter.

“Both prescription and non-prescription products for some reason, we’re so out of it,” McKenna said.

He says this growing need for medicine is a sudden change from the last two years, when COVID-related precautions eased demand for products like Tamiflu and Tylenol.

“You sit there and you’re a manufacturer and you make a high priced product, and it’s not moving, you’re not going to make as much until the demand comes back,” McKenna said.

Now, as cases spike, the demand is back, and based on McKenna's experience, he questions if manufacturers were ready for such a surge.

“It’s scary. It’s really scary,” he said.

In a statement, Johnson & Johnson, who owns Tylenol, said while high demand may have made products less readily available in stores, they’re not experiencing supply chain or ingredient issues.

Genentech did not respond to our inquiry.

That said, one thing is for certain–medicine shortage is a reality, and winter has only just begun.

“When it really gets bad, I hope they have something out there for me and my family,” said Tina McCoy of New Haven, “With this going on and around.”