A counter for selling the drug, Remdesivir, was opened at Madurai Medical College opposite Gandhi Memorial Museum on Saturday.
District Collector T. Anbalagan, who visited the centre, said that this measure was taken by the State government to ensure that Remdesivir, which is important for treating patients with severe COVID-19 infections, is available in many places across the State.
Each vial of Remdesivir will be sold at ₹1,568. For one person, a maximum of six vials will be sold at a cost of ₹9,408. Those who want to buy Remdesivir will have to submit a doctor’s prescription, a CT scan report, an RT-PCR test report, a photocopy of the patient’s Aadhaar card as well as the buyer’s Aadhaar card.
The Collector said that people from government as well as private hospitals, and from other districts too can buy Remdesivir at the counter. The Government Rajaji Hospital has deployed a doctor at the centre. The doctor will verify the medical records and accordingly, Remdesivir will be sold only to eligible persons.
The Tamil Nadu Medical Sciences Corporation has provided 500 vials to the counter as on Saturday. More vials will be provided to the counter regularly depending upon the demand, said the Collector.
Earlier, many government and private hospitals across the district had faced a shortage in availability of Remdesivir. In such a situation, the growing demand for the drug has resulted in black-markeering. According to sources, a vial of Remdesivir was sold for as high as ₹10,000 in the black market in Madurai. The Collector said that selling Remdesivir through the government counter will avoid black-marketeering of the drug.
Mr. Anbalagan said that the oxygen requirement in the district has increased three-fold. More positive patients were requiring oxygen support in the second wave. The district administration was taking steps to source additional oxygen for hospitals in Madurai, he added.