The Vice President, M. Venkaiah Naidu addressing the Governors and Lieutenant Governors on COVID-19 situation and Vaccination Drive in the country through video conferencing, in New Delhi on April 14, 2021.
Government approves stepping up of production of Remdesivir
New Delhi: As India’s daily new cases continue to rise with 1,84,372 new cases registered and 1,027 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today interacted with Governors of States regarding the Covid-19 situation and ongoing vaccination drive in the country, through video conferencing.
The meeting was also attended by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu who, expressing his concern over the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country, cautioned that the healthcare infrastructure will inevitably come under tremendous pressure. He called for special focus on 10 states that account for 85% of national cases and 89% deaths reported in the last 14 days.
The ten States including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan have shown a rise in the COVID daily new cases. 82.04% of the new cases are reported from these 10 states. These ten States also accounted for 86.08% of the new deaths. Maharashtra besides reporting the highest daily new cases at 60,212, also saw the maximum casualties (281). Chhattisgarh followed with 156 daily deaths in the last 24 hours.
In the meantime, Manufacturers of Remdesivir have volunteered to reduce the price to less than Rs 3500 by the end of this week. The issue of availability of Remdesivir was reviewed by Chemical and Fertilizer minister Mansukh Mandaviya in meetings with the manufacturers of the Remdesivir drug and other stakeholders on April 12 and 13, 2021, where decisions have been taken to increase production/supply and reduce prices of Remdesivir.
The current total installed capacity of the seven manufacturers of Remdesivir is 38.80 lakh vials per month. Fast-track approval has been given for seven additional sites having the production capacity of 10 Lakh vials /month to six manufacturers. Another 30 lakh vials/month production is lined up. This would ramp up the production capacity for manufacturing to around 78 lakh vials/month.
As an additional measure, Remdesivir, API and formulation were placed under export ban on April 11, by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to increase the supply of Remdesivir in the domestic market. On Government intervention, Remdesivir supplies of approximately 4 lakh vials meant for Export is being diverted by manufacturers to fulfil domestic requirement. EOU/SEZ units are also being enabled to supply to the domestic market.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister suggested that the Governors can actively engage to ensure that social institutions collaborate seamlessly with the State Governments towards micro containment. He said that their social network can help ensure an increase in the capacity of ambulances, ventilators and oxygen in hospitals.
– global bihari bureau
