Changes in Drug Shortage Duration and Resolution Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States
Description
Background: Drug shortages remain a persistent challenge in the United States, and the COVID-19 pandemic introduced additional stressors that may have altered both their duration and resolution. Manufacturing disruptions, transportation delays, and surges in demand could have prolonged shortages or hindered timely resolution. Evaluating shortage dynamics before and after the pandemic is critical for understanding the resilience of the drug supply chain and informing preparedness strategies for future public health emergencies.
Objective: To determine whether the duration and resolution of drug shortages differed before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: Drug shortage data were obtained from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) database. We compared shortage duration and resolution between two 2-year periods: pre-pandemic (March 1, 2018–March 1, 2020) and post-pandemic (May 1, 2023–May 1, 2025). Analyses included Chi-square tests for resolution rates and log-rank tests for time-to-resolution using log-rank test.
Results: There were 208 shortages in the pre-pandemic period and 146 in the post-pandemic period. Resolution occurred in 64.9% of shortages before the pandemic and 78.1% after, representing a 13.2% increase (95% CI, 3.3%–23.1%; p = 0.011). There were significantly different resolution patterns across the two periods (p < 0.0001). The median time to resolution decreased from 491 days (95% CI, 423–602) pre-pandemic to 253 days (95% CI, 208–288) post-pandemic.
Conclusion: In the post-pandemic era, fewer drug shortages were reported, and those that occurred were resolved more quickly, suggesting an adaptive shift in the resilience of the drug supply chain.
Citation Information
Xia, Marvin and Jie, Chunfa, "Changes in Drug Shortage Duration and Resolution Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States" (2026). Office of Research DMU Research Symposium. 46.
https://digitalcommons.dmu.edu/researchsymposium/2025rs/2025abstracts/46
Changes in Drug Shortage Duration and Resolution Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States
Background: Drug shortages remain a persistent challenge in the United States, and the COVID-19 pandemic introduced additional stressors that may have altered both their duration and resolution. Manufacturing disruptions, transportation delays, and surges in demand could have prolonged shortages or hindered timely resolution. Evaluating shortage dynamics before and after the pandemic is critical for understanding the resilience of the drug supply chain and informing preparedness strategies for future public health emergencies.
Objective: To determine whether the duration and resolution of drug shortages differed before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: Drug shortage data were obtained from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) database. We compared shortage duration and resolution between two 2-year periods: pre-pandemic (March 1, 2018–March 1, 2020) and post-pandemic (May 1, 2023–May 1, 2025). Analyses included Chi-square tests for resolution rates and log-rank tests for time-to-resolution using log-rank test.
Results: There were 208 shortages in the pre-pandemic period and 146 in the post-pandemic period. Resolution occurred in 64.9% of shortages before the pandemic and 78.1% after, representing a 13.2% increase (95% CI, 3.3%–23.1%; p = 0.011). There were significantly different resolution patterns across the two periods (p < 0.0001). The median time to resolution decreased from 491 days (95% CI, 423–602) pre-pandemic to 253 days (95% CI, 208–288) post-pandemic.
Conclusion: In the post-pandemic era, fewer drug shortages were reported, and those that occurred were resolved more quickly, suggesting an adaptive shift in the resilience of the drug supply chain.
