Dallas drug store shelves wiped out of cold medicine amid omicron surge: 'New toilet paper shortage'
'The new toilet paper shortage,' one pharmacy employee said
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John Brunnquell says that employees are working extra days and hours in order to meet the demand from consumers.
Stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are facing cold medicine shortages as flu season picks up and the omicron variant of the coronavirus continues.
"The new toilet paper shortage," an employee at an East Dallas pharmacy told Fox 4 of the empty shelves.
One pharmacist at a CVS location in East Dallas said that customers with symptoms appearing to be the coronavirus or flu have been buying up cold medicine and cough syrup, while others are coming in to just stock up.
"I’m not surprised that the shelves may be thin," shopper Steve Corder told Fox 4.
Empty shelves at Texas store (FOX 4) (FOX 4 )
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The outlet reported empty shelves in at least six stores across the DFW area, including at grocery stores.
Humidifiers are also hard to come across, according to shoppers.
"I’ve been to three, and I’ve searched online," shopper Heather King said. "I’m just seeing empty shelves, every kind of humidifier has just been sold out."
Dallas County reported nearly 13,000 new COVID cases over the last three days. Doctors are currently warning that flu season is ticking up in areas across the country, after last year’s flu season was the lowest on record.
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Shortages at grocery stores for a variety of supplies such as produce and meat and packaged goods have been in short supply in recent days. Grocery stores across the nation typically have 5% to 10% of their items out of stock, but now that figure sits at about 15%, Consumer Brands Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman told the Associated Press.
Empty shelves at Giant Food & Drugstore in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on October 27, 2021. (Fox News)
"People don't need to panic buy," Lisa DeLima, a spokesperson for Mom's Organic Market, told the AP. "There's plenty of product to be had. It's just taking a little longer to get from point A to point B."
The shortages stem from consumers following COVID trends and eating at home as the omicron variant of the virus spreads. While a deficit of truck drivers, shipping issues, weather-related shipping delays and food production lines struggling with staffing due to coronavirus-related absences are adding to the shortages.
Some retail leaders are optimistic that the dearth of products will soon correct to normal patterns. But others say the issues could last years due to grocery stores and food companies figuring out consumers’ buying trends.
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"We're going to be playing with that whole inventory system for several years to come," Doug Baker, vice president of industry relations for FMI, a trade organization for groceries and food producers.