China: Beijing To Distribute Pfizer Antiviral Drug As Rising Covid Cases Strain Hospitals

The report comes as the city is grappling with increasing cases of Covid that have overburdened the hospitals and emptied pharmacy shelves.

Pfizer’s Covid-19 drug Paxlovid will soon be made available in Beijing ( Image Source :Getty )

New Delhi: Amid a massive surge in Covid infections in China over the past few weeks, Pfizer’s Covid-19 drug Paxlovid will soon be made available in Beijing, CNN reported citing state media on Monday.

The report comes as the city is grappling with increasing cases of Covid that have overburdened the hospitals and emptied pharmacy shelves.

CNN stated that the state-run China News Service reported on Monday that after receiving training, community doctors will administer the medicine to Covid-19 patients and give instructions on how to use them.

“We have received the notice from officials, but it is not clear when the drugs will arrive,” China News Service cited a worker at a local community health center in Beijing’s Xicheng district as saying.

According to CNN, Paxlovid is the only foreign medicine that has been approved by China’s regulator to treat Covid in the country, but access is extremely difficult to come by. The anti-viral drug sold out within hours after a Chinese healthcare platform offered it earlier this month.

An oral medicine, Azvudine, developed by China’s Genuine Biotech has also been approved.

The Covid situation in China worsened after the Chinese authorities abruptly abandoned its zero-Covid policy this month, which included nationwide lockdowns, strict quarantine measures and mass testing, following protests across the country over its heavy economic and social toll.

According to CNN, the sudden lifting of restrictions sparked panic buying of fever and cold medicines, leading to widespread shortages, both at pharmacies and on online shopping platforms. Long lines have become routine outside fever clinics and hospital wards overflowing with patients in the capital Beijing and elsewhere in the country.

CNN reported that an emergency room doctor in Beijing told the state-run People’s Daily on Thursday that four doctors on his shift did not have time to eat or drink. “We have been seeing patients nonstop,” he said.

Another emergency room doctor told the newspaper he had been working despite having developed fever symptoms. “The number of patients is high, and with fewer medical staff, the pressure is multiplied,” said the doctor.

Hundreds of health experts from across the country have traveled to the capital city to assist medical centres, indicating the strain on Beijing's medical system.

According to experts, China’s vast rural areas might witness surging cases as people in big cities return to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year celebrations next month, where vaccination rates are lower and medical facilities are limited.