BENGALURU: The Centre has increased Karnataka’s allocation of Remdesivir to 3,01,300 vials till May 9 and also upped the medical oxygen allotment to 865 tonnes from 802 tonnes per day, tweeted Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Sunday.
A letter from Navdeep Rinwa, joint secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, to secretaries of all states and Union Territories stated that Karnataka will receive Remdesivir vials from six companies -- Hetero (83,000 vials), Mylan (1,27,300), Cipla (30,000), Syngene (27,000), Jubilant (32,000) and Dr Reddy’s (2,000).
“After a review of enhanced availability of Remdesivir because of ramped-upproduction, the allocation plan to all states has been revised. The increased supply will help fight the pandemic,” said DV Sadananda Gowda, Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers.
“State/UT governments are advised to place adequate purchase orders with the manufacturing companies immediately, if they have not already done so, for the quantity that they want to purchase out of the allocation for the state/UT as per supply plan in close coordination with the liaison officers of the companies. Coordination with private distribution channels in the state could also be made,” stated an excerpt of the letter.
In the Lancet COVID-19 Commission India Task Force report titled “Country-wide Containment Strategies for Reducing COVID-19 Cases in India”, experts stated that in low and medium risk settings, there is still time to ramp up supply to prepare for future peaks, and to train medical staff, interns, and residents as backup.