ALLENTOWN, Pa. — There are empty shelves where Tylenol for infants should be found at stores and pharmacies throughout Lehigh Valley.
But Lehigh County Executive Phil Armstrong said parents of sick children needn’t worry.
Armstrong said the unavailability of the medicine is a temporary response to flu season, coupled with ongoing issues from the coronavirus pandemic and the emergence of Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV.
“It’s not a shortage, as much as demand was just a lot higher because three things happened at once — COVID, Flu and RSV,” Armstrong said.
- Infant Tylenol can be hard to find in stores during flu season, with the added impact of COVID and the emergence of RSV
- Lehigh County Executive Phil Armstrong said hospitals and doctors are still able to get the medicine
- The county is urging the community to get vaccinations and flu shots.
Armstrong said he’s been in regular contact with local health systems and doctors as the county navigates this flu season. Yet, he said that while infant Tylenol is in high demand, it seems that only the liquid form of the medicine has been hard to find.
Chewable Tylenol and other forms, Armstrong said, still are readily available. He added that doctors and hospitals can still get the medicine for infants.
He also said that in many cases, children can manage without Tylenol if it’s unavailable.
“We do realize how parents are very concerned, but a minor fever is not that big of a deal in children," Armstrong said.
"You know, watch for a day or two, but the hospitals themselves are having no problems getting this.”
He offered some advice for parents. The first one is don’t hoard infant Tylenol when it is available in stores. That can make the medicine scarcer for others in need.
"The county is really, really emphasizing don’t lax off on the fact that you need to get your flu shots, your [COVID] boosters."Phil Armstrong, Lehigh County Executive
He also suggested making sure children get flu shots and COVID-19 vaccinations.
“Vaccinations can prevent these things from happening and we don’t want people to sit back now and say, you know, ‘I don’t really think I need to get that,’” he said.
“The need is still there. The county is really, really emphasizing don’t lax off on the fact that you need to get your flu shots, your [COVID] boosters. These things are preventable.”
Also, while infant Tylenol should be available as stores receive more shipments, Armstrong said that the medical experts in the county have told him that flu season appears to be coming to an end.
“They see the curve now on the downward side," Armstrong said. "So it looks to them that we have had its peak. They said they’ve seen fewer cases coming in the doors."
