Australia is currently experiencing shortages in some common antibiotics, according to Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).
The shortage is affecting pharmacists across the Port Macquarie-Hastings.
Community pharmacist Judy Plunkett said they are "managing" the shortage.
"There have been some special arrangements where we can substitute different strengths of the same drugs and help people out that way," she said.
"Different medications are going in and out of stock, but most of the time we can borrow from each other or find a workaround by asking doctors to change the person to a different antibiotic that will also treat the infection that they have."
The situation is similar for North Haven Pharmacy, with pharmacist in charge David Miles saying they have been adapting to the shortage as best they can.
"If it's a dose form that's unavailable, we can change the dose form and adjust the dosage accordingly," he said.
"It's more difficult when we can't get the antibiotics at all and in which case we're trying to contact the prescriber to discuss other options or similar products."
The nationwide scarcity stems from a range of factors including global supply chain issues, with the majority of affected drugs produced in India and China.
The regulator told ACM that antibiotic supply was expected to improve within the next three months.
Anti-diabetic and cancer drugs are among other key treatments impacted by the shortages.
"With diabetics we have been able to provide other medications that will still cover them for the treatment they need," Ms Plunkett said.
This shortage has come in the lead-up to Christmas when more holidaymakers will be travelling to the area.
"There's a lot of doctors on holiday and tourists coming into town which does make it difficult as well," Mr Miles said.
Ms Plunkett said they will be increasing their orders this week.
"We're only closed on Christmas Day, so we will make sure we've got enough stock to cover ourselves for the likely increase of visitors to the area," she said.
"The difficulty is getting people to be able to see a medical practitioner because not many of them stay open over Christmas."
Mr Miles said there are usually ways around the shortages in medication, but that there are a handful of cases where the best antibiotic won't be the one that's available and it takes a bit of extra thinking to get around it".
"It just adds extra time and steps to treating the patient."
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