Bajans descend on pharmacies to boost health

Barbadians have been doing their research on how to boost their immune systems and better protect themselves from contracting the contagious COVID-19 which has been sending chills throughout the nation with a recent spike in positive cases.

Some pharmacies are reporting an increase in shoppers coming to their outlets to purchase masks, sanitizers, alcohol wipes and in liquid form, and bacteria soap liquid.

Pharmacists are also reporting that after conducting their own investigations, customers have been purchasing Vitamin C, D and paracetamols, and Echinacea, among other supplements necessary for boosting their immune systems.

Manager and pharmacist in charge at C.S Pharmacy, Trident House, Broad Street, Jeff Browne, told a Barbados TODAY team that his pharmacy has seen an increase in demand for hygiene products as Barbadians seek to equip themselves with the necessary tools to protect themselves.

“I would say over the last week, I have had an increase in request for masks, alcohol, hand sanitiser and we have been getting a heavy request for paracetamols because of the dengue in between there affecting Barbadians.

“I wouldn’t say it is a case of panic, but people are more aware of what is going on because we did have a very high spike in our cases.

“So there is much discussion among staff and so on and they have been very cooperative in trying as hard as possible to prevent being infected with this virus,” Browne said.

“We have been seeing a high request for Vitamin C, we have a request for zinc and any formula that it is out there that is assisting in the prevention of this virus, we are getting requests for,” the pharmacist added.

Browne explained that though there has been a steady flow of customers every day for the past week, his staff members have been ensuring that persons continue to comply with the social distancing protocol.

“As you know they are coming to the pharmacy for medicine so we have to be extra careful with the staff,” he said.

Pharmacist-in-charge at Massy Pharmacy, Warrens, Bernard Bailey also reported an increase in the request for vitamin C and zinc. Bailey said the majority of the customers were not asking for recommendations, due to the fact that they were already informed.

Bailey said workers have had to continuously restock some shelves.

“We saw a spike a while ago. The shelves were well-stocked, they went down and then we restocked again,” Bailey said.

Manager at Collins Ltd, Broad Street, Bruce Mayhew, said that while it appeared to him that most customers were already prepared with their masks and sanitizing products, management took the decision to restrict the number of persons entering the pharmacy.

“You can get your medication through the side and you will be regulated, so we don’t have too many people in the store at one time.

“This is just until we can get over this period and hopefully get back to how we were which is pretty much safe and everyone was doing a good job,” Mayhew said.

Pharmacists at several other pharmacies who asked not to be identified also informed Barbados TODAY that they have been extremely busy over the past week following announcements from Government and health authorities that the positive cases were on the rise.

One pharmacist said his delivery service has been quite lucrative since last weekend as particularly elderly and ill customers were opting to stay at home. (AH)