Hong Kong Pharmacies Run Out of Flu Meds Amid Panic Buying

Panadol, a popular brand of pain reliever, was mostly unavailable Monday.

Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

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By Sarah Zheng

February 28, 2022 at 8:19 AM UTC

Updated on

February 28, 2022 at 11:01 AM UTC

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Hong Kong’s pharmacies are running out of flu and cold medicines as residents stock up on essential supplies to ride out any potential lockdowns in a city overwhelmed by record Covid-19 cases and surging deaths.

There’s been a run on Panadol, a popular brand of the pain reliever paracetamol, and the drug was mostly unavailable Monday at local chains including Watsons and Mannings, as well as online shopping platform HKTVMall. Other medicines such as Mucinex, Fluimucil and Fortune Coltalin were also out of stock.