NUMBER CRUNCH

Why Sales of Cold Medicine Are Crashing This Winter

Could masks stop more than just the coronavirus?

46%: That’s how much U.S. sales of over-the-counter cold, flu, and cough medicine declined in the five week period ending Dec 26, 2020 from the same period last year, according to data from Nielsen, reported by Bloomberg.

Sales of cold medicines like NyQuil and Vicks are down because fewer people are falling ill with these symptoms during what is normally the peak of the cold and flu season. It may not surprise you to learn that social distancing, hand-washing, and wearing a mask arrests the spread not just of the novel coronavirus but also of other common pathogens that infect us, like the influenza virus.

Another factor contributing to a milder than usual flu season is that more people have opted to get the flu vaccine this winter. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that more than 193 million doses of the flu vaccine have been distributed as of January 15, the largest number of flu vaccine doses ever distributed in a single influenza season. Fifty-three percent of all adults have been vaccinated against the flu this season, up from 45% last year. (Flu season is still ongoing, however, and if you’re in that 47% of adults who haven’t already gotten their flu…