Pharmacies are running critically low on key drugs including Paracetamol as Boots warns staff stocks will run out by the end of trading next week
- The company expects stocks to have run out by the 28th March next week
- Company memo has warned staff of dwindling supplies in their warehouses
- Boots will limit sale of all products containing paracetamol to one per person
British pharmacies are currently running critically low of key drugs such as Paracetamol.
High Street chain Boots warned staff on Thursday its warehouses only contain enough supply for another ‘1.3 weeks’, and stocks will be exhausted by the end of trading next week.
By Saturday 28 March, the company expects to have run out of the painkiller Paracetamol.
In an urgent memo to staff, Boots also announced draconian measures to limit the sale of all products ‘containing Paracetamol’, in each of its 2,500 stores, to just one per person.
Paracetamol is selling out in pharmacies as the UK adjusts to life under the coronavirus
Halving the industry standard policy of two Paracetamol, Ibuprofen or Aspirin products per customer transaction.
The company told staff the decision has been made in order to: ‘Help us support as many customers as possible’.
UK pharmacies have been placing large orders with pharmaceutical wholesalers to replace stock amid panic buying, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The memo warns staff at retail outlets:
‘Our availability on lines which are being driven by Coronavirus is changing daily.
Whilst we are continuing to try and secure more stock from suppliers there are lines which are now out of stock or with very low forward weeks cover and you may not receive further deliveries for a period of time.’
It is illegal to sell more than 100 tablets or capsules of either paracetamol or aspirin in any one retail transaction, and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) guidelines limit sale to two packets per transaction.
The Paracetamol crisis comes after the government’s chief science officer urged the public to avoid ibuprofen to treat Coronavirus
Shoppers are warned to only buy what they need or face denying other shoppers of medicine
The comments from Sir Patrick Vallance were made earlier this week (Tuesday 17 March) as he updated MPs on the UK’s approach to tackling the disease.
Vallance, the UK’s Chief Scientific Advisor, told MPs that amid some uncertainty about its impact: ‘The sensible thing at the moment would be to avoid ibuprofen in cases of people who have coronavirus.’
A Boots spokesman said: ‘We have seen an increase in customers looking to buy paracetamol in our stores, and we’re sorry if there may have been limited occasions where we have sold out.
‘We have been working closely with all of our suppliers and have more stock arriving in stores every day.
‘To ensure we can support as many people as possible, there is currently a limit of two units per customer on hand sanitisers, soap and hand wash, pain relief products, cough and cold, all children’s medicines, thermometers, tissues and hand wipes, baby milks, baby sterilising and antibacterial products, and hand creams.
‘There is also a limit of one unit per customer for products containing paracetamol.’