MP govt airlifts 15,000 vials of remdesivir to districts

At least 15,000 vials of remdesivir, a key anti-viral drug used in the treatment of COVID-19, arrived in Indore and was airlifted to different parts of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, an official said.

This is the third time in the last five days that the state government deployed its aircraft and helicopters to deliver the consignment of essential drugs, the official said.

The latest consignment of remdesivir reached Indore's Devi Ahilyabai Holkar International Airport in a state government aircraft from Bengaluru, and was transported to various divisional headquarters, he said.

State minister Tulsiram Silawat informed that of the 312 boxes, containing 15,000 vials of remdesivir, 57 were sent to Bhopal, 26 to Sagar, 50 to Gwalior, 32 to Rewa, 50 to Jabalpur, and 41 to Ujjain, while 56 boxes were kept in Indore.

The state has witnessed an acute shortage of anti-viral drugs in recent times and several persons have been arrested for black-marketing of the injection.

Similar consignments of remdesivir had arrived in Indore on April 15 and 18 and were distributed to different parts of the state.