Edmonton pharmacies awaiting shipments of children's Tylenol

Local pharmacists are preparing to receive shipments of children’s Tylenol after Health Canada announced on Monday that it had secured a foreign supply of children’s acetaminophen.

Details on exactly when the medicine will arrive and where it will go haven’t been made public, except to say it will be available at pharmacies “in the coming weeks.”

“We’re hoping to get the product in so we can help serve our patients in the community,” said Edmonton pharmacist Michelle Tang.

Because the medication is coming from a foreign source, Tang says it might look different than what parents are used to seeing on store shelves, and it might be administered differently too.

She’s encouraging parents to check with pharmacists when they pick it up, to make sure the dose is the same as what they're used to giving their child.

“It might be a strange product for some people, they might be a bit hesitant to buy it, so they’ll need that counselling from the pharmacist.”

While parents wait for the new supply, Tang suggested getting up to date on vaccines as another way to prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses.

“This will help minimize transmission. It will definitely help battle that shortage with Tylenol and Advil for children.”

“Not only does the flu shots or COVID shots protect yourself, it’ll protect other people. You can be a carrier and not have symptoms.”

She says so far this year, the demand for the flu shot has been lower than in previous years.

“We would have two pharmacists on site, having one just to do flu shots, this year we’re just managing with one pharmacist on site.”

“People also probably feel vaccine hesitant and fatigue ultimately with the COVID shots going on, receiving so many shots.”

The medication shortage has been attributed to a combination of supply chain issues and heightened consumer demands during what drug makers are calling an “unprecedented” cold and flu season in Canada.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jessica Robb and CTVNews.ca’s Rachel Aiello.