Remdesivir shortage to end, Telangana govt asks makers to ramp up production

TS is using 260 tonnes of oxygen per day, the requirement may go up to 350 tonnes: Eatala
Image of Remdesivir vials used for representation. (Photo | EPS)
Image of Remdesivir vials used for representation. (Photo | EPS)
Updated on
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HYDERABAD: Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajender said on Sunday that the shortage of Remdesivir — the injectable anti-viral drug that is touted to mitigate the replication of Covid-19 — in the State is expected to end within a day. He was speaking to the media at the BRKR Bhavan in Hyderabad. 

Rajender also said that he and MAUD and IT Minister KT Rama Rao had met the manufacturers of Remdesivir in Hyderabad and asked them to ramp up their production. Due to drop in Covid-19 cases, Remdesivir manufacturers had also decreased their manufacturing capacities, said Eatala. 

The Health Minister said that he has written to the Union Minister of Health, Dr Harsh Vardhan and raised the need for relaxing the rules that mandate that stocks of the drug must be kept in the godown for a period of 15 days before being sent to the market. Eatala said that storage time must be reduced to a week. If this is done, the Minister said, the three lakh injections of the drug will be available immediately. 

The Minister also said that Telangana can vaccinate up to 10 lakh people in a day but is handicapped due to the shortage in availability of vaccines. He added that delivery of 2.7 lakh doses of vaccine was expected by Sunday night. 

Speaking on the oxygen shortage, Eatala said that the State is currently utilising 260 tonnes of oxygen daily and the requirement might go up to 350 tonnes per day. However, he assured that oxygen shortage will be addressed soon as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that oxygen used in industries will be diverted for medical purposes to address the shortage. 

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