Co. Tipperary pharmacist appeals to public not to panic buy medicines as there are no supply shortages

A Clonmel pharmacist has urged the public not to seek to buy up medicines over and above what they normally need to help prevent shortages from occurring.

Jonathan Carey of the Mary Street Pharmacy has assured customers there are no medicine supply shortages currently affecting the Irish market due to the coronavirus crisis but he warned if people try to buy up more than they need there will not be enough for everyone.

His pharmacy has been very busy since the coronavirus crisis hit dealing with queries from concerned customers and with extra customer demand for medicines.

Mr Carey  and his staff were requesting customers to call back to collect medicines when The Nationalist visited as they tried to get through a backlog of prescription requests.

He said people coming into his store to get prescription medicines were also buying over the counter medicines like Calpol to stock up their shelves to try and avoid having to go out again.

Hand sanitisers and face masks, of course, were sold out quickly at the Mary Street Pharmacy but Mr Carey pointed out they never stocked a huge amount of these goods anyway.

Mr Carey is concerned that people are panic buying because they fear the pharmacies won't stay open.

He said he wished to assure the public that  the pharmacies, like supermarkets, will be staying open and a consistency of supply of medicines will continue if there isn't panic buying.