Punjab to get 21,000 doses of Remdesivir

The state health department will get 13,400 doses from the central government and 8,000 doses from private firms

The state health department will soon receive 21,400 doses of Remdesivir to meet the rising demand amid the second wave of the pandemic in Punjab, health experts said on Thursday.

Punjab to get 21,000 doses of Remdesivir

Remdesivir, an injectable anti-viral, aims to prevent replication of the virus in the infected people. It was manufactured in 2014 to treat Ebola, and has since been used to treat SARS and MERS. In 2020, the drug was repurposed for Covid treatment and clinical experience has shown that it works best in mildly ill to severe Covid-19 patients.

In the Covid-19 hotbeds districts of the state, including Amritsar, Patiala, Jalandhar and Ludhiana, the patients are struggling to get Remdesivir injections from government and private hospitals as India is grappling to meet the rising demand of the anti-viral drug.

Addressing shortages of Remdesivir in certain and most infected regions of the country, the Central government made interim allocation of the key anti-viral drug for 19 states and Union Territories, including Punjab, for the period up to 30 April. Under the allocation, the Government of India had decided to send 13,400 doses to Punjab.

Also, the state health department has placed an order of additional 8,000 doses from private firms, which they are expecting to receive in coming 2-3 days, to ensure easy availability of the anti-viral drug in government and private hospitals.

“Remdesivir is not available in Patiala hospitals, both government and private, while its demand is increasing with every positive patient. We have made requests to the state health department to ensure its availability in the market so as to avoid black marketing and hoarding,” said Patiala civil surgeon Dr Satinder Singh, adding that due to shortage, some healthcare officials are demanding thousands of rupees for one Remdesivir dose.

Till Thursday evening, there were around 40,584 active Covid-19 cases in Punjab, of which nearly 508 are on oxygen support. Health experts believe that even the 21,400 Remdesivir doses may fall short in the next ten days as the state is reporting a new spike of infection daily.

“Remdesivir is basically an experimental drug for use, the efficacy of which has not been proven yet. But still, being the only anti viral drug available in the country, people are purchasing it from private chemist shops at high price. The injection is given to moderate and severely ill patients but it is not a life saving drug. Also, there is no confirmation that it will reduce hospitalisation hours or will decrease the chances of mortality. The people, who are spending thousands of rupees on a single dose or are black marketing the stock of Remdesivir, is completely illogical”, said state nodal officer for Covid-19, Dr Rajesh Bhaskar.

He added: “At present, we have 750 doses of Remdesivir in state’s government and private hospitals and the daily usage of the anti-viral drug is 40 to 50 doses, across the state. However, as people are searching for the injection in the market, we will ensure its easy availability for which 21,400 doses are awaited. We will distribute its stock to each district, according to positive case load and active cases. The districts’ officials will then supply it to government and private hospitals. Also, the state has enough stock of other equipment and drugs needed for Covid-19 treatment.”