Pune admin supplies low dosage tocilizumab vials to hospitals over shortage

Pune: Apart from regulated supply of tocilizumab vials to hospitals, the district administration has also brought down the dose among the 980 vials distributed to hospitals on Monday

Pune: Apart from regulated supply of tocilizumab vials to hospitals, the district administration has also brought down the dose among the 980 vials distributed to hospitals on Monday. The dosages were supplied to 107 hospitals across Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Pune rural.

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Instead of the regular 400 mg dose in each vial of the immunosuppressive drug used in the treatment of Covid-19, the administration on Monday supplied 80 mg vials. According to doctors, a severe Covid-19 patient needs 400 mg of each dose which could be two doses if the health situation does not improve. With the present supply, hospitals will have to give five vials to such Covid cases. The district administration has asked hospitals and doctors to exercise caution while administering the drugs.

On Monday, in a letter to district hospitals that had requested tocilizumab 400 mg vials, the admin supplied 40mg vials. Just like remdesivir, the distribution of tocilizumab is also restricted by the Pune district administration. Hospitals are unable to procure the drug directly.

The letter signed by Pune district collector Rajesh Deshmukh states: “the demand for tocilizumab has risen steadily and the drug is not made in India but imported and distributed by Cipla across the country. The earlier stock distributed on May 4 was tocilizumab 400 mg. However, the stock provided on May 17 is 80 mg. So, it is advised that the prescription must be in accordance with the Covid patient’s severity.”

As per an annexure by the central government, tocilizumab 400 mg must be administered slowly over NS IV over 60 minutes and the patient can be given an additional dose if the condition worsens. As a patient may need up to 800 mg of the drug, now 10 injections of the current dose have to be administered.

Dr HK Sale, executive director of Noble hospitals that received 20 such vials, said, “With 20 vials of 80 mg dose, we can treat only four severe Covid cases as one patient needs dose of 400 mg. We have also been told to ration the drug.”