A couple weeks ago, I saw that I would need alcohol prep pads in a few weeks so went looking. As you can guess, there is no such thing at stores ( and alcohol same story).
My goto is BD which has been non-exsistent for months.
So went to Walgreens looking and happened to pass the manager and commented to her that people are hoarding alcohol and prep pads and leave none for me and I NEED them.
She said you can just use alcohol and a gauze pad and I said yes I know, where can you buy alcohol ?
She said "come with me, I think I can help you".
She went into a side door to, I guess, a store room, and came out with, can you believe it, a bottle of 91 % rubbing alcohol.
She said she keeps a few bottles for people like me.
I profusely thanked her, another hero, and carried my treasure home.
So, if you guys cannot find alcohol or prep pads, check with a Walgreens manager. Maybe it is is an internal directive ?
Good luck !