Covid-19 Scare: UP gets 25,000 vials of Remdesivir from Gujarat's Ahmedabad
The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has procured 25,000 vials of Remdesivir injection, used in the treatment of Covid-19. The vials were brought from Ahmedabad on Wednesday evening by a state aircraft.
A government spokesperson said that other than Remdesivir, the government was keeping a close watch over availability of eight other medicines, prescribed for Covid patients.
These include Ivermectin, Paracetamol, Doxycycline, Azithromycin, Vitamin C, Zinc tables, Vitamin B Complex and Vitamin D3. These are part of the medicine protocol followed even by patients in home isolation.
"Health department officials have been asked to ensure that there is no shortage of these drugs in any district. For that, the chief minister has also asked the health department to coordinate with all districts to find out how much stock they have and when they will need replenishments.
"The department has spoken to drug manufacturing companies to ensure a steady supply of these medicines and to distributors of medicines to make sure that they are readily available in the market," he said.
Drug Controller Dr. A.K. Jain said that seven Indian companies in the country are producing Remdesivir injections under a voluntary licensing agreement with Messrs Gilead Sciences America.
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The companies have assured the government that they would provide more doses as per the need of the state at the earliest. At present, there is a sufficient amount of Remdesivir available and it is being administered to serious patients, he said.
However, the injection is not available in the open market and most chemists said that they would require a clearance from the district magistrate before giving Remdesivir.
Dr. S.K. Khanna, a private medical practitioner said, "It is ridiculous that one needs clearance form the chief medical officer (CMO) to get admitted to even a private medical facility and then permission is needed form the district magistrate for buying Remdesivir. This red tape system is causing more fatalities because both officials are rarely available in their offices."
BJP spokesman Harish Chandra Srivastava said that he would speak to the party leadership in this regard and ease the system.
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