Rajasthan highlights shortage of essential Covid drugs, urges Centre to deliver pending doses

Rajasthan has so far registered nearly 531,000 Covid-19 cases and 3,685 coronavirus-related deaths. On Monday, 16,438 people were found to be infected, while 84 others succumbed to the disease.

Rajasthan health minister Raghu Sharma on Tuesday said there is a shortage of essential drugs Remdesivir and Tocilizumab, both of which are used to treat patients suffering from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Sharma added that the central government has allocated 67,000 doses till April 30, but the state has only received 30,000 so far. “We request that the remaining 37,000 doses be given to us immediately,” he told news agency ANI after meeting Union minister of chemicals and fertilisers Mansukh Mandavia in Delhi.

Rajasthan health minister Raghu Sharma said that the central government has allocated 67,000 doses till April 30, but the state has only received 30,000 so far. (File photo)

Sharma, along with state energy minister BD Kalla and state urban development minister Shanti Dhariwal, had arrived in the national capital earlier today to meet Union ministers and appraise them of the shortage of medical oxygen and essential medicines in Rajasthan.

The Rajasthan health minister’s request comes two days after he claimed that the Congress government in the state had placed an order for 175,000 Remdesivir injections from several drug manufacturers this month, but managed to only receive 28,350 of them. Last week, the Jaipur Police arrested three people and detained three others for alleged black marketing of the antiviral drug. The police said the accused were selling the drug at 15 times more than the original price.

Rajasthan has so far registered nearly 531,000 Covid-19 cases and 3,685 coronavirus-related deaths. On Monday, 16,438 people were found to be infected, while 84 others succumbed to the disease. The active cases have climbed to 146,640 while over 380,000 recoveries have been recorded. In the last 24 hours, Rajasthan, along with nine other states, accounted for 71.68% of India’s daily Covid-19 spike.

In addition to a shortage of Remdesivir and Tocilizumab, Rajasthan has also reported non-availability of Covid-19 vaccine doses ahead of the third phase of the nationwide vaccination drive on May 1. Health minister Sharma said on Sunday that the government had spoken to the Serum Institute of India (SII) for procuring more vaccine doses. “When we spoke to the Serum Institute, we were told it may take till May 15 to fulfill orders placed by the Government of India (GoI) and that they won’t be able to deliver vaccines to Rajasthan before it,” he said.