Indore Sees Queues For Hours As Anti-Viral Drug Runs Short In Supply

A long queue was seen outside pharmacies in Madhya Pradesh's Indore as people rushed to buy an anti-viral medicine that has been recommended in the fight against the coronavirus. The Madhya Pradesh government will get more Remdesivir injections to treat poor people for free, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Wednesday.

However, demand for Remdesivir, which is considered a key anti-viral drug in the fight against COVID-19, especially in adult patients with severe complications, has been skyrocketing and supply seems to inadequate, people who stood in the long queue for hours said.

As against the daily demand of 7,000 vials of Remdesivir in Indore, pharmacies are getting less than half that number, officials have said.

Hundreds of people waited in long queues at Indore's Dawa Bazaar to buy the medicine on Thursday, but only a few could get it. On Wednesday too, only a few people could get Remdesivir after waiting for hours.

Long queues outside pharmacies started forming on Thursday even before the shops had opened. In visuals, policemen are seen struggling to keep the queues from becoming too long and affecting traffic at the busy area. Barricades have been put up to channel the lines of people in an orderly manner.

"I have been standing in line for two hours. Even then I can see at least 200 people still waiting in front of me," Indore resident Abhijit Singh, who had come to get Remdesivir for his father, told NDTV. "My father is admitted to hospital. For three days I have been waiting to get this injection for him somehow. Before that we got one injection," Mr Singh said.

The Madhya Pradesh government has asked doctors to administer Remdesivir on a need-based basis.

"This injection (Remdesivir) should be administered whenever necessary. I have directed officials to procure this injection at the government level to deal with shortage, so that poor people can be provided the injection for free," Mr Chouhan in Bhopal said on Wednesday.

COVID-19 cases have been rising again in several states in what is being seen as a second wave of the pandemic in the country. Maharashtra, Punjab and Gujarat are some of the states where cases have been rising fast. Many states have announced micro-lockdowns.