Staggering number of people wait outisde Zydus Hospital in Ahmedabad to get Remdesivir,

Hundreds of people lined up outside the Zydus Hospital in Ahmedabad to get their hands on the anti-viral Remdesivir injections. After supplying 5,000 vials to BJP’s State President CR Patil in Surat, Zydus hospital had stopped providing the injection due to a shortage in its inventory.

While the Surat District Collector had stated that Remdesivir would not be available to COVID patients in private hospitals, CR Patil announced that he would distribute 5,000 Remdesivir injections for free to the public of Surat on April 11. A huge crowd gathered around the BJP office to get these injections.

On April 9, Zydus Hospital had announced the unavailability of Remdesivir and resumed distribution from April 11. Despite the government’s mandate to not provide anyone with more than six doses of Remdesivir without a doctor’s prescription, the BJP state president was able to procure 5,000 doses of the injection. These injections in the BJP office had a batch number of V100122, establishing that they were bought from the Zydus Hospital in Ahmedabad.

There has been a staggering number of people waiting outside the hospital to get the injection after the resumption of distribution. As ailing patients and their relatives await their chance to buy the anti-viral drug on the streets of Ahmedabad, there are party members who have the power to hoard and distribute the all-important drug to bolster their political gains.