VIJAYAWADA: Government hospitals across the State said they have sufficient stocks of antiviral injection Remdesivir for now, while private hospitals are facing shortage of the same. However, most of the serious Covid cases are being referred to government hospitals. To ensure that people are excessively burdened while undergoing treatment for Covid, the State government on Friday evening issued an order modifying an earlier one fixing the maximum price of various brands of Remdesivir injection to be charged from Covid patients at Rs 2,500/- for one vial of injection (100 mg).
There were reports that a private hospital in Srikakulam district has charged more than the fixed amount, however, the same was not confirmed by the officials. When contacted, district joint collector Sumit Kumar said they have not received any complaints in that regard.
However, the district joint collector said on learning that a couple of hospitals are charging more for Covid treatment, he is conducting an inquiry. He maintained that government hospitals in the district have suf f i c i e n t stock s o f Remdesivir. In Visakhapatnam and other districts, officials maintained that anti-viral drug is being directly procured by the hospitals. As on Saturday afternoon, the state has a stock of 46,566 vials of Remdesivir.