Centre's Remdesivir Quota Not Enough For Telangana: Health Minister

Telangana Health Minister Etela Rajender has slammed the Centre for allocating the inadequate number of Remdesivir vials and oxygen cylinders for Covid-19 patients in Telangana. Etela expressed displeasure and said that the state has to be given preference as it is home to many manufacturers of the anti-viral drug.

Rajender said the Central government allotted a little over 21,000 Remdesivir injections to Telangana for a period of April 21 to 30. “For the last one week, we have been holding discussions with manufacturers of Remdesivir in Hyderabad and placed orders to procure 4 lakh Remdesivir injections. On Wednesday, the Centre decided to centralise the distribution of Remdesivir and has now allotted just 21,500 injections, which will not be enough for the State,” he said.

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Rajender said the Union Health Ministry has allotted oxygen manufactured by Tata Steel in Kalinganagar in Odisha, which is located very far from the State.

He questioned, “Why can’t the Centre allow Telangana to access oxygen produced from nearby facilities like in Vizag. We have expressed our displeasure over the allotment of Remdesivir and oxygen to Union Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan and we are hoping that the Centre takes decisions favourably,” he added.