Children in the United States have been severely afflicted by a tripledemic of three separate respiratory viruses. As a result, drugstore shelves are barren, forcing parents to suffer to get the hard-to-find medications.

All children's pain medications are now subject to limits at CVS and Walgreens. CVS has a restriction of two products, both online and in-store, and Walgreens has a maximum of six products for online transactions.

According to WCVB, independent pharmacies in Massachusetts are also being affected by the scarcity.

Walgreens stated as quoted by CNN that the restrictions were put in place to "ensure equal access" for all consumers and are intended "to help support availability and discourage excess sales." 

Meanwhile, the Consumer Healthcare Drugs Association, which reported a 65% spike in pediatric painkiller sales over the same period last year, claimed that "supplies of these products are being refilled as soon as possible, and there is not a widespread scarcity in the US."

"However, with demand for children’s pain and fever medicines reaching unprecedented levels following this early and severe flu season (along with cases of RSV and COVID), we understand why some retailers have adjusted to impose limits on purchases,” the group added in a statement.

Doctors and experts predict that shortages will last throughout the wintertime cold and flu season.

It is worth noting that the US dealt with a baby formula shortage that affected several states last summer.

At the time, many experts believe that Bidenflation (a portmanteau for "Biden" and "inflation") is crippling the US economy and causing severe supply shortages, not to mention affecting people’s personal finance.