Vaccine Heist: 850 Remdesivir injections stolen from Bhopal hospital amid supply crunch

Remdesivir is being sold in the black market for some Rs 20,000 per injection.

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Amid the rising coronavirus cases in India and soared demand for the Covid-19 vaccine a piece of news has come from Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal where 850 anti-viral drug Remdesivir injections were stolen from a store of the public facility 'Gandhi Medical College' on Saturday. 

 The news was shared by Bhopal Deputy Inspector General of Police Irshad Wali, who said, "850 Remdesivir injections were stolen. We are investigating."

After the news broke out, medical education minister Vishwas Sarang took stock of the medical facility and said, "I have received the information about the theft of the injections. This is a very serious matter. Divisional Commissioner Kavindra Kiyawat and Bhopal Deputy Inspector General of Police Irshad Wali have reached the spot and started investigations."

The police have registered the case with the Koh-e-Flza police station under sections 457 (house-breaking by night) and 380 (theft in any building) of the Indian Penal Code.

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In the past three weeks, Bhopal has seen a sudden spike in the number of cases due to which it is facing a critical shortage of Remdesivir injections required for the Covid treatment. Apart from this, there's also a shortage of hospital beds and oxygen. 

Due to shortage, the MP government oversees the anti-viral drug distribution to various hospitals for Covid-19 patients in accordance with the bed capacity.  

Last week, a report of vaccine heist was received in which it was stated that Remdesivir is being sold in the black market for some Rs 20,000 per injection. 

Notably, a covid positive patient with infected lungs needs a complete dose of six injections for more than five days.


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