The life-saving COVID-19 pills believed to be key in ending the pandemic are in short supply and long production times have doctors desperate amid Omicron’s surge.

“This should be a really joyous time because we now have highly effective antiviral pills,” Erin McCreary, a pharmacist and administrator at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told the Associated Press. “Instead, this feels like the hardest and most chaotic stretch of the pandemic.”

Last month, the FDA approved both the Pfizer and Merck pills that studies show cut the chances of severe disease and death. Pfizer’s pill has been shown to be nearly 90 percent effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in patients at high risk of severe illness, according to trial data. Merck’s has been proven to reduce hospitalizations and deaths by around 30 percent. Patients are able to take the pills at home, which would help the overburdened hospital system.