TEXARKANA -- As the Omicron onslaught continues, customers have flooded medicine suppliers for the last two weeks, creating an ongoing run on cough syrup and other items used to address the various symptoms brought on by COVID, as well as other ailments, like the cold and the flu.
Shelf stockers struggle mightily to keep the in-demand items available to their customers.
"Omicron seems to be spreading more quickly than the others, so our customers are buying up our supplies as quickly as we can put them out," said Nicole Nichols, Walgreens shift lead manager on Richmond Road. "We noticed this start a few weeks ago, and really got going with the recent school closings. Last week, when our truck brought our new supply, the customers came in just as quickly and depleted our stocks. Another truck is coming this week and we expect those supplies to be gone just as quickly."
She added they cannot keep COVID testing kits in stock.
At CVS on Arkansas Boulevard, the workers there report a similar supply situation, with continuous runs on those supplies, almost as fast as the truck bring them and they put them on the shelves. Once again, the COVID self-test stays steadily depleted
WalMart on Arkansas Boulevard is also reporting that cold and flu remedies and the COVID test are difficult to keep in stock.
Albertsons shelves on Tuesday afternoon don't seem to be hit as hard, though certain brands of cough syrup are noticeably depleted.