Cold and flu medicine in short supply on Vancouver Island

Just as cold and flu season arrives, many Vancouver Island residents are noticing medicine shelves at pharmacies are bare, especially for items like kid's cough medicine.

It's a problem that's being felt across the region.

At Fort Royal Pharmacy in Victoria, shoppers told CTV News they were stressed about the situation.

"People are concerned, like how and when [they can get some] because flu season is coming up," said Vik Dawa, a pharmacist at the store.

In Colwood, B.C., the People's Pharmacy has been running low on children's liquid medicine for nearly a year, and now it's stock is almost entirely empty.

"They're lost, they're confused. Some of them don't know about the shortage and they're just coming in to buy kids Tylenol and it's the sixth or seventh pharmacy that they've visited," said pharmacist Yoshi Ito.

Pharmacist Vik Dawa is pictured at Fort Royal Pharmacy in Victoria. (CTV News)

CTV News confirmed with eight independent pharmacies in the region that they're experiencing a shortage of flu and cold medicine, especially for children.

Large franchises, like London Drugs and Shoppers Drug Mart, are also being affected. Both chains are limiting the purchase of these types of medicines to just one bottle per person in southern Vancouver Island.

"With the high demand for cold and flu products, some parts of the country might see more limited supply of certain products," said London Drugs in a statement Monday.

"London Drugs will continue do our best to ensure our shelves are well stocked for the cold and flu season, but ask customers to not purchase larger quantities than what they need, so that all caregivers can access what they need, when they need it."

SUPPLY CHAIN CHALLENGES

The B.C. government says supply chain issues are to blame for the shortages, and says it underscores the importance of getting a COVID-19 and flu shot this year.

"This is a supply chain issue at a manufacturing level, a national level, that were facing," said B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix.

"We're working with the federal government to improve access to these things," he said.

Demand is also high because of the onset of cold and flu season, as well as some people self-medicating for fevers caused by COVID-19. There's also speculation that others are hoarding cold medicine in anticipation of a prolonged shortage.

ALTERNATIVES

In the meantime, experts say there are alternatives to getting cold medicine for kids, such as getting a pharmacist to compound a liquid version, though it's a more costly option.

People can also consult a pharmacist or physician about using a smaller dose of adult Tylenol for kids, but professionals emphasize getting expert advice before doing that.

The BC Pharmacy Association says new supplies of drugs are coming in, "but it's not coming in on a regular basis."

The organization asks that people only buy what they need.

"Right now my next allotment of Tylenol, they say, is in December," said Ito from the People's Pharmacy. "But when that date comes it's probably going to get pushed back again."