New Delhi: The government is not taking any chances this time. Anticipating the third wave of COVID-19, it has a reserve stock of nearly 50 lakh vials of Remdesivir and plans production of Tocilizumab, News18 quoted top government sources as saying.
The government has also been thinking of reopening the export of COVID-19 vaccines by November once India has enough supply of the vaccines and a majority of adults are vaccinated in the country. For now, the government’s official stand is that its focus is on the domestic vaccination exercise.
The 50 lakh vials of Remdesivir were kept as a reserve for immediate release to states during emergencies. The seven licensed manufacturers of the drug in India now have a monthly capacity of nearly 1.25 crore vials per month and they have produced a total of nearly 3 crore vials so far. The export of Remdesivir could also start soon, the report added.
Besides this, 293 new oxygen plants have been commissioned across the country, out of a total of 1,573 oxygen generation plants that have been sanctioned. A total of 351 additional oxygen plants are also being set up by different ministries of the union government. As of date, 1,244 Liquid Medical Oxygen Tankers are available in the country. The capacity of nearly two lakh oxygen cylinders has also been added since April, News18 reported.
The country also has over 18 lakh isolation beds and 1.25 lakh ICU beds now. Over 50,000 ventilators have been supplied to the states by the Centre and as many oxygen concentrators.
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