Canada is importing more children’s medication amid an unprecedented surge in demand, but the head of the Ontario Pharmacists’ Association warns that the supply will still need to be rationed if it’s going to last.
About one million bottles of children’s cold medication has already arrived in Canada and the federal government says another half-million bottles are slated to arrive over the next three weeks, but Justin Bates, CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists’ Association, told Newstalk 580 CFRA that the supply the government secured won’t last through the winter if it’s just left on the shelves.
“If we just put it out on the shelves, people might buy two or three bottles per customer and if that happens, with the tentative supply we do have, it’s not going to last long… it’s weeks of supply, not months,” he said.
Bates is suggesting that the product should remain behind the counter for the time being, to mitigate the risks of stockpiling, panic buying and, in some cases, reselling.
“We should probably put these products behind the counter, which is a bit an inconvenience for patients, but at the very minimum they can talk to the pharmacist and we can ration it one per customer so that we make sure there’s enough to go around for the people that need it.”
Demand has spiked in Canada amid an early flu season combined with the ongoing risk of COVID-19 and another seasonal virus, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), which has been hitting the emergency rooms of children’s hospitals hard. Ottawa’s flu positivity rate was 23.4 per cent for the week of Nov. 13-19. Bates says Canadian manufacturers, while they have increased production, haven’t been able to keep up.
“We did see an unprecedented spike in demand back in the late summer, approximately 300 per cent over this time last year. The manufacturers here couldn’t keep pace with that, even though they have increased their production by 35 per cent, which is a record,” he said.
On Friday, federal health minister Jean-Yves Duclos said about 1.1 million units were produced domestically in November, adding that production has doubled over the past few weeks.
Ottawa pharmacist and vice president of pharmacy affairs with the Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada, Dr. Sheli Dattani, told CFRA that medication has been coming in locally, but the new supply won’t replenish all of the stock that they need.
“A lot of pharmacies are keeping them behind the counter and they may have purchase limits, so I would just tell people that it’s out there,” she said, asking customers to be patient. “Definitely think about whether you really need it. Talk to your pharmacist about it and then go to them and they’ll likely give it to you from behind the counter.”
Dattani says she’s encouraged to hear that more supply will be coming in over the next few weeks.
“I think we’re going to see this problem slowly, not as quickly as we’d like, but slowly getting resolved.”
An Ontario man is being accused of changing his name, profession and life story multiple times to potentially more than 100 women online before leaving some out thousands of dollars.
A Strathcona County toddler has been rescued from suspected sexual exploitation, and the child's mother has been charged, police said.
LeBron James is the NBA's new career scoring leader. With a stepback jump shot with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night, James pushed his career total to 38,388 points on Tuesday night and broke the record that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar held for nearly four decades.
U.S. President Joe Biden exhorted Congress Tuesday night to work with him to 'finish the job' of rebuilding the economy and uniting the nation as he delivered a State of the Union address aimed at reassuring a country beset by pessimism and fraught political divisions.
Rescuers raced against time early Wednesday to pull survivors from the rubble before they succumbed to cold weather two days after an earthquake tore through southern Turkiye and war-ravaged northern Syria. The death toll climbed above 7,700 and was expected to rise further.
A Canadian Armed Forces surveillance plane was heading home on Tuesday after two intelligence-collecting flights over Haiti.
A new ranking by global travel site Big 7 Travel has revealed the most Instagrammable places for people to visit in 2023, but only one Canadian location, Banff, is among them.
U.S. intelligence officials believe that the recently recovered Chinese spy balloon is part of an extensive surveillance program run by the Chinese military, according to multiple American officials familiar with the intelligence.
As Valentine's Day approaches, many Canadians are preparing to celebrate by taking their loved ones to dinner and buying them gifts, but how much are we spending on this day coast to coast?
A former medical student who claims he fatally shot a fellow student in self-defence during a drug deal in Halifax denied Tuesday he planned to kill the man and steal the marijuana he was carrying.
Retirement is bittersweet for a Nova Scotia doctor who says she feels like she has abandoned the 2,000 patients she has been caring for because she was not able to find a doctor to replace her.
Police believe a man who was found dead behind a Nova Scotia Power substation in Stellarton, N.S., was trying to steal copper wire.
An Ontario man is being accused of changing his name, profession and life story multiple times to potentially more than 100 women online before leaving some out thousands of dollars.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
Meaghan Maloney of London, Ont. said she was driving on her way to work, along Highway 401, in her 2023 Nissan Rogue when the sunroof shattered without warning.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
A 16-year-old boy has died after being struck by a snow clearing truck in the parking lot of Les Galeries Laval shopping mall on Monday night.
Quebec interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay says that in wanting to close Roxham Road to prevent irregular entry of asylum seekers into Quebec, the Parti Québécois and its leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon are behaving like Donald Trump.
A northern Ontario woman had the rare opportunity to meet her favourite musician at the Grammys, thanks to social media platform, TikTok.
Several highways in northeastern Ontario are reopened after a winter storm created hazardous road conditions Tuesday morning.
An Ontario man is being accused of changing his name, profession and life story multiple times to potentially more than 100 women online before leaving some out thousands of dollars.
Frustration with the province’s new housing legislation boiled over in council chambers
Several days after the discovery of her body, police in Woodstock have declared the death of 30-year-old Karen Cunningham as 'suspicious' in nature.
A special weather statement is in effect for most of the southern Ontario. A strong low pressure system will bring rain that is heavy at times to London-Middlesex and surrounding areas beginning early Thursday morning.
Police are searching for two suspects following a carjacking Monday.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
A newly released report reveals the City of Winnipeg ended 2022 with a shortfall to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.
Waterloo regional police say one of the suspects in an armed robbery at Conestoga Mall last week has been located dead.
A dog in desperate need of care was found abandoned during frigid temperatures over the weekend and is just one of the many cases of abandoned dogs, according to Animal Control in that area.
Roundabouts are under the microscope in Waterloo region as regional councillors are reviewing the safety of the road design following a pair of serious collisions involving pedestrians.
A new survey from the Bank of Montreal is shedding light on Canadians’ concerns about the economy and the impact it will have on retirement plans.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith expressed her concerns with the federal government's proposed 'just transition' legislation directly to the prime minister on Tuesday, saying she hopes the two can find some common ground.
If Alberta accepts Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal health proposal, it would see, on average, $2.5 billion over the next 10 years, in line with population growth.
Robyn Silvernagle will be making her third appearance at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts next week in Kamloops, BC, just weeks after her team was put together.
Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) is restricting traffic on range road 3062 as they investigate a suspicious death in the area.
Residents at a downtown Saskatoon apartment complex are speaking out about what they say are unreasonable rent increases and a lack of attention to building repairs.
An Alberta couple wants to ensure parents-to-be get the full picture when getting a sonogram after their son was born with a severe heart defect.
A Strathcona County toddler has been rescued from suspected sexual exploitation, and the child's mother has been charged, police said.
Warren Foegele scored twice in the second period and the Edmonton Oilers went on to beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Months after threatening action, Vancouver’s park board has evicted campervans and motorhomes parked illegally at a beach on the city’s west side.
While some premiers are calling the health-care offer presented by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Tuesday "disappointing," B.C.'s David Eby stopped short of that characterization.
Selina Robinson, the B.C. NDP's minister for post-secondary education, has revealed she is once again battling cancer.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have signed American linebacker “Champ” Larry Dean to a one-year contract extension.
A 50-year-old woman is dead after two semis collided on Highway #1 near Indian Head.
A forensic pathologist offered her expert opinion on how Catlin Goodwill’s three-month-old son died suddenly in October 2017, during testimony on the second day of trial.
