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The number of coronavirus infections in the country is gradually stabilizing and there is already talk of easing restrictions. But the country’s most popular pharmacies say the withdrawal from the pandemic remains to be seen.
Kristina Nemaniūtė-Gagė, president of the Pharmacy Association, told a meeting of the Seimas Health Affairs Committee on Wednesday that anxiety, all kinds of seizures, has certainly increased. “
Sweeps to relieve anxiety
The pandemic appears to have had a particularly negative impact on the psychological state of the population. In all the pharmacies surveyed by tv3.lt, the anxiety relieving preparations are removed from the shelves.
“Pharmacists say that customers complain more often than usual of increased anxiety and insomnia, so valerian and other herbal preparations that soothe, strengthen the nervous system, and help them reconcile sleep are also in demand.
During December, the amount of food supplements purchased for the nervous system increased by more than a fifth, ”says Laura Bielskė, Eurovaistinė communication manager.
Heart drops are also very popular in BENU pharmacies.
“This is likely to have been influenced by the ongoing quarantine, which has an impact on people’s psychological and emotional health,” says Mindaugas Urbas, director of marketing and communication at BENU Pharmacy Lithuania.
In addition to preparations to relieve anxiety, Lithuanians also sweep pain medications and vitamins from pharmacy shelves.
Currently, one of the most popular products in Camellia pharmacies is still drugs for pain, inflammation and fever, preparations to improve heart function, preparations to calm the nervous system, improve sleep quality, as well as vitamin C, vitamin D and fish oil. “says Camelia. Communication project manager Žiedūnė Juškytė.
Amber Pharmacy also sees an increase in sales of zinc, weight loss products and vitamins for women.
“Comparing the data for the first two weeks of January 2020 and 2021, we can see that sales of zinc preparations more than tripled, sales of vitamin D, vitamin C, antioxidants, and weight-loss preparations nearly doubled, and sales of sales of vitamins for women were cut in half. “- says Irena Tėvelienė, marketing director of Gintarinės vaistinė.
The pandemic does not go away
Pharmacy representatives say signs of pandemic withdrawal have not yet been observed. People continue to buy many face masks, visit physical pharmacies less often, and shop online more often.
“Currently, the number of people visiting pharmacies is similar at the beginning of the quarantine, so we can only assess the morbidity and enjoy the improvement of the situation based on the data published by the authorities.
We can only notice that sales in electronic pharmacies continue to grow, it is understandable that people are safe and try to visit public spaces as little as possible where there are more people ”, says I. Tėvelienė, representative of Gintarinės vaistinė.
Camelia says that protective face masks still remain one of the most popular brands in drug stores. True, if in the past residents bought medical masks, now they look more often at several. The quantities of skins purchased also change.
“In comparison, when the supply of masks was very low in the spring and the demand was high and the prices were high, customers who went to the pharmacy more often bought masks in units (3.5, 10, etc.) . During the second quarantine, when the demand for medical masks was much higher and prices were lower, customers were more likely to buy masks in boxes rather than units.
Right now, the price of masks is dropping even further, so some customers no longer buy masks in one box, but several boxes in a single shopping trip, ”says Ž. Juškytė.
BENU Pharmacy warns that the population has developed new habits during the pandemic, so far they go less frequently to physical pharmacies and take more care of their health.
“It is too early to relax and we see that people understand it. Flows to pharmacies are even lower, so we assume that at least part of the population honestly follows the quarantine rules, restricts unnecessary visits to points of sale and other places, ”says M. Urbas, BENU representative.
There are also cases in which people who have already been infected with the virus go to pharmacies.
“More and more often, people who are already sick go to pharmacies for consultations and ask how to take care of themselves after an illness,” says L. Bielskė, representative of Eurovaistinė.
The number of people with colds decreased
The recent wave of colds, according to representatives of pharmacies, did not have a negative impact on the health of the population. After a few cold days, no jump in preparations for relieving symptoms of severe colds was observed.
Amber Pharmacy says that quarantine restrictions and respiratory protection that humans wear may have contributed to this. Compared to the first two weeks of last year, this year the number of cold products at this pharmacy has decreased by about a third.
“These pathogens are viruses that are transmitted by airborne droplets or by contact, and the disease itself is a contagious viral infection of the upper respiratory tract (nose and throat). Therefore, these diseases can only be contracted from a sick person , and simply if a person feels the physical symptoms of frostbite, the body’s resistance to viruses may decrease.
Therefore, in this case, quarantine was introduced to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus and the reduction of physical communication and movement of people in public places also contributes significantly to the lower incidence of colds and flu, ”he says. I. Tėvelienė.
Although Camellia is also seeing a significant drop in cold sales, there has been a call for help after last cold weekend. There were even those who blew their necks off.
“Compared to, say, 2019, we recently noticed that there are far fewer patients requesting colds. Of course, there are also cold patients, who began to wash their throats after such a severe cold, developed a runny nose, a dry and fatigued cough or even neck swelling, ”says Arnas Janušauskas, Camelia pharmacist.
Eurovaistinė says that the decrease in the number of colds may also be due to the fact that people simply took more care of their health, strengthened their immunity.
“This year we noticed that the number of people with colds is actually much lower than in previous years, which is probably influenced by the time they spend at home and the fact that customers pay more attention to their immune system in general,” says L. Bielskė, representative of a pharmacy.
The portal tv3.lt recalls that the quarantine is currently in force in the country. You can see the quarantine requirements in the following illustration:
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