Businesses and consumers are being told to wait weeks or longer to get what they’ve ordered from printers — or to limit their use of copy machines — because there’s not enough of other kinds of paper, sources tell The Post. And as the holiday season approaches, book sellers fear a runaway best seller could be out of stock if there’s not enough paper to keep up with demand.

Like most commodities, paper became harder to purchase this summer with the rise of the Delta variant around the world, limiting labor at paper mills and shipping ports just when the economy was opening up again and demand was soaring.

But labor issues aren’t the only reason for the shrinking paper supply: The pandemic accelerated an existing decline in paper production as more manufacturers pivot to making higher-margin packaging materials, like cardboard boxes used in e-commerce, Argus Research analyst David Coleman told The Post.