Boots has introduced new restrictions to prohibit customers from buying more than one packet of paracetamol as the company says stockpiling has led to stores selling out.
It comes after the Government's chief science officer, Sir Patrick Vallance, previously told MPs about the uncertainty of using ibuprofen to treat coronavirus symptoms and use paracetamol instead.
While the evidence for this is uncertain, doctors have urged those taking ibuprofen for chronic pain to contact their doctor before coming off the painkiller.
Boots, which has its head office based in Nottingham and around 2,500 stores across the country, says it has seen an "increase" in the number of people buying paracetamol.
The company says more stock is due to arrive this week.
A Boots spokeswoman added: “We have seen an increase in customers looking to buy paracetamol, and we are carefully managing this in our stores and with our suppliers.
"To ensure we are supporting as many people as possible, we’ve introduced new restrictions so customers are only able to buy one pack of paracetamol (or product containing paracetamol) per transaction.
"We would like to reassure our customers that we do have stock that’s coming through the supply chain, and more that’s being delivered to our distribution centre this week.
"We would also like to encourage our customers not to stockpile large amounts of paracetamol – this is creating instances where stores are selling out, and those who might be in desperate need are going without.”
There are now 112 confirmed cases of covid-19 in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, and five people have died.
