'Need 20,000 vials per day': CM MK Stalin flags shortage of Remdesivir in Tamil Nadu to Centre

According to a release issued by the state government on Monday, Stalin told Goyal that the state has so far received 250,000 vials of Remdesivir, which he said is a low allocation of 7,000 vials per day.

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Monday spoke to Union minister Piyush Goyal claiming low allocation of antiviral drug Remdesivir, which is used for treating patients of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The drug is being used in cities such as Chennai, Salem, Madurai, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli and Tiruchirappalli.

On Sunday, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin chaired his first cabinet meeting where he instructed his colleagues to monitor the sale of Remdesivir and ensure that it is not sold at higher prices (black marketing). (File photo)

According to a release issued by the state government on Monday, Stalin told Goyal that the state has so far received 250,000 vials of Remdesivir, which he said is a low allocation of 7,000 vials per day. Stalin said that Tamil Nadu’s minimum requirement is 20,000 vials per day and this quantity will be useful to meet the requirements for both government and private hospitals.

He urged Goyal to increase the supply of the drug to meet the demand of the state.

The Union minister, meanwhile, assured the Tamil Nadu chief minister that the central government will look into his request. The statement also added that efforts were on to purchase adequate stocks of Remdesivir to treat patients with lung problems and the antiviral drug was being given to the needy in all key government-run hospitals in Tamil Nadu and private facilities in the aforementioned cities.

On Sunday, Stalin chaired his first cabinet meeting where he instructed his colleagues to monitor the sale of Remdesivir and ensure that it is not sold at higher prices (black marketing).

On Monday, news agency ANI tweeted photos of long queues at the Government Kilpauk Medical College in Chennai as people struggled to secure the vials of Remdisivir for their family members. Speaking to ANI, one of the persons at the medical college said that he is in dire need of the drug for his mother and has been trying for the past three days to procure it. “The entire process is in serious trouble. If we handle the pandemic this way, I don’t think there will be a recovery soon. I think I might get infected like this,” the person added.

Tamil Nadu has so far registered 1.38 million Covid-19 disease cases, 15,648 deaths and 1,220,064 recoveries. On Sunday, 28,897 fresh cases were seen, while 236 more people succumbed to the disease. Tamil Nadu along with nine other states account for 73.91 per cent of the new Covid-19 disease cases recorded across India in the last 24 hours, the Union health ministry said on Monday.

Tamil Nadu is observing a two-week complete lockdown from May 10 to May 24 to curb the spread of the Covid-19 disease.