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Maha well stocked with Remdesivir, but more Tocilizumab needed
Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), at the state level and in Pune, on Saturday reiterated that there is enough stock of Remdesivir, however, Tocilizumab is currently in short supply
PUNE The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), at the state level and in Pune, on Saturday reiterated that there is enough stock of Remdesivir, however, Tocilizumab is currently in short supply.
Both these medications are widely prescribed by doctors for the treatment of Covid-19 and anticipating a possible third wave of Covid infections the FDA is taking stock of drug supply.
As of September 8 the state has 432,470 doses of Remdesivir and 751 doses of Tocilizumab, both injections.
The state also has 8,791,511 doses of Favipiravir, an antiviral used to treat mild to moderate symptoms. Tocilizumab is used to treat severe symptoms.
As for Amphoterecin injections, the state has 38,904 doses of Amphotericin B (plain injection); 5,742 doses of Amphotericin B (liposomal injection); 24,887 doses of Amphoterecin B (emulsion injection) and 6,180 doses of Amphoterecin (lipid complex injection).
As per the state health department the state also has 7,78,554 large PPE Kits, 4,27,400 medium-sized PPE Kits, 6,025,541 N95 masks and 144 million triple-layered masks.
A state official speaking anonymously said, “As of now, we cannot say that there is a shortage of Tocilizumab, as there is not much demand for it. However, it is not as much as we would want it to be. Since it is completely controlled by the central government and is imported, the central government distributes it to the state as per requirement and demand. As far as Remdesivir does, we have sufficient stock of the drug.”
S V Pratapwar, assistant commissioner, FDA Pune said, “As of now we have about 330,000 doses of Remdesivir for the district which is enough. As far as Tocilizumab goes, we have a shortage of the drug. In the past few days a private hospital asked for it and we could not get it.”
