Is There A Drug Shortage? New York City Faced With Short Supply Of Some Medications

Many over-the-counter and prescription drugs are becoming in short supply in New York City because of the coronavirus and may signal what is ahead for the rest of the country.

With thousands of people in New York City testing positive for COVID-19, they are turning to local pharmacies for medications to treat their symptoms, causing drug shortages for products such as Tylenol, CNBC said.

The coronavirus is making it increasingly difficult to keep medications on pharmacy shelves, especially in hard-hit areas such as New York with many medications and medical devices back-ordered, the news outlet said.

According to CNBC, one pharmacy said that gloves, thermometers, and masks were back-ordered until May with oximeters unavailable until May 31, while other products were limited by quantity from suppliers.

Drugs such as hydroxychloroquine, which has been touted as a treatment for COVID-19, and azithromycin, another COVID-19 medication known as a Z-pak, are reportedly in very limited supply and almost unavailable in New York City.

Pharmaceutical companies are also reportedly enacting fair allocation, which limits the supply of certain drugs to any one pharmacy to ensure all that need it, get at least some of the medications.

As the coronavirus sweeps across the rest of the country, drug shortages may become a bigger reality for more pharmacies that try to keep up with the demand of medications to treat patients that test positive for COVID-19.