Those who can afford it are also paying hefty amounts to procure drugs like remdesivir and tocilizumab. An executive from a pharmaceutical company which manufactures remdesivir said "demand had dried up" in January and February. "If the government had placed an order, we would have stockpiled and there wouldn't have been any shortage. We have ramped up production but demand has grown significantly," he said. In contrast, the southern state of Kerala planned for the surge in advance. Dr A Fathahudeen, who is part of the state's Covid taskforce, says there was no shortage of oxygen in the state as necessary steps were taken in October last year. "We also procured sufficient stock of remdesivir and tocilizumab and other drugs well in advance. We also have a surge plan in place to tackle any exponential rise in the numbers in the coming weeks," he says.
Vikas Pandey, 'Coronavirus: How India descended into Covid-19 chaos', BBC
