TORONTO – Despite Toronto relishing in the dog days of summer with temperatures hitting the high 20s and beyond, many people in the city are struggling with colds, the flu, and COVID-19. Something else they’re struggling with? Finding cough syrup to ease their symptoms!
Many people across the G.T.A have reached out to The Brandon Gonez Show with reports that cough and cold medication, especially for kids, is out of stock almost everywhere. Many of you have even had your orders of the medication through Instacart and Uber Eats cancelled because no one can find any products.
“Hey do you guys know what’s happening with cough and cold medicine (especially for kids)? Buckley’s or Tylenol cough and cold for kids has been off the shelves for weeks,” one mother said in a message to The Brandon Gonez Show.
“That’s shoppers. I ran into a mom at the store with little kids too and she was saying she tried everywhere even Instacart,” the message continued, including the image below.
The Brandon Gonez Show contacted Shoppers Drug Mart locations throughout various regions in the G.T.A., including North York, Mississauga, Etobicoke, Vaughan, and downtown Toronto to see if cough and cold medications were in stock.
There was a general consensus that shelves were almost completely empty aside from a few bottles. Notably, the only bottles available were for adults, and children’s medications were completely sold-out at every location we contacted.
When asked if the stores knew why there was a shortage, they were unable to determine what was stopping stores from receiving more inventory. All stores were unable to clarify if the shortage is due to a shipping or manufacturing issue.
Online, others are sharing that it’s not only cold and flu medication that they’re struggling to find, but other medications are becoming increasingly difficult to get ahold of.
“Allergy medicine has been hard to find & my daughter’s asthma dosage is having a shortage as well!” said one woman on Instagram.
We also reached out to the Ontario Pharmacist Association to see if they could determine a reason behind the shortage.
“Throughout COVID, there have been many supply chain disruptions in all stages of manufacturing and wholesaling, causing scarcity of ingredients and manufactured products (recalls, raw ingredient shortages, labour scarcity/outbreaks shutting down manufacturing etc),” Justin J. Bates, Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Pharmacists Association, said in an email.
“More people are getting sick since dropping public health precautions like masking and distancing, resulting in higher demand to help people manage symptoms,” Bates continued, adding that they are unsure when certain products will return to drugstore shelves due to oncoming waves of COVID-19, but he recommends speaking with your pharmacist if you need cough and cold medication and can’t get ahold of any.
