GREENSBORO, N.C. — It may not dominate the headlines every day but supply chain issues are sticking around.
The pandemic put a big strain on established supply chain systems and it could be years for it to fully bounce back.
A new report from the National Retail Federation says while pandemic-level imports and goods coming into the country have dropped, problems still persist.
"While supply chain operations have certainly improved over the past year, this is mainly due to the fact that import volumes have significantly dropped from where they were during the height of the pandemic...there remain many outstanding issues that have plagued the supply chain for years," said the report.
PORTS AND THE SUPPLY CHAIN
A big part of the problem is issues at major ports like the Los Angeles Port and Long Beach Port.
Back in 2021, the ports were so behind, ships were stuck at sea waiting to drop off shipments. Ports started working 24/7 to get through all the ships.
Just last week the Los Angeles Port dealt with labor contract issues during a new negotiation.
As those negotiations went on, not enough people showed up to work and the port was shut down for two days.
A new tentative agreement was eventually reached and things opened back up, but anytime the ports shut down or get behind, shipments to you can get delayed and can lead to shortages.
SEMICONDUCTOR SHORTAGES
A big shortage putting a strain on more than 160 industries is the semiconductor chip shortage.
These high-tech chips are used in just about everything from personal computers so you can work from home to cryptocurrency trading equipment.
The pandemic, war, and even droughts overseas delayed the number of chips made and their shipment to the U.S.
The Biden Administration is pushing for more of these chips to be made in the U.S. so we don't run into international supply chain issues.
The company Wolfspeed which makes semiconductor chips is doubling down on North Carolina and expanding its production.
The company announced its building a new $5 billion manufacturing plant in Chatham County, bringing not only crucial products to the U.S. market but more North Carolina jobs.
Wolfspeed already employs nearly 3,000 people in our state and this expansion will add 1,800 jobs.
MEDICINE SHORTAGES
We've seen all kinds of medicine shortages throughout the pandemic. Just recently WFMY's Ben Briscoe went to the pharmacy and was told an eye medication he needed would take at least three weeks to fill because it was backordered.
According to records from the FDA, there are currently 132 different drugs in short supply.
The FDA says drug shortages can occur for many reasons, including manufacturing and quality problems, delays and some companies even discontinue certain medicines if they can't make enough money on them.
The FDA says they cannot require a company to make more of a drug, but they can approve importing medicines from other countries and speed up the review of new production line requests to help with shortages.
While 132 drug shortages may seem like a lot they are actually pretty typical.
"Drug shortages are not new, unfortunately, they've been around. We had them several years ago, we have them now, and we're going to continue to have them in the future," said Kristie Nicks, a Clinical Pharmacy Coordinator with Cone Health.
Here are three things to do if you run into a medication supply
- Ask the pharmacist to check with the supplier about when it will be back in stock
- Call around to other pharmacies
- See if your doctor can prescribe a similar medicine that is in stock.