A sudden change in China’s COVID-19 policy left pharmaceutical companies unprepared.
Beijing:
China’s foreign ministry said it had “expanded production capacity” for medical supplies amid reports of fever and cold medicine shortages amid rising cases of COVID-19.
Local authorities have restricted the sale of fever-reducing drugs, down to pills, the NTD reports.
Due to the sudden change in China’s COVID-19 policy, pharmaceutical companies are unprepared to deal with the surge in COVID-19 cases. According to the NTD, medicines needed for fevers and colds are in short supply.
At a press conference on Friday, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning said medicines were “generally in sufficient supply”.
Mao Ning stressed that China was taking initiatives to make its response measures more “scientific, targeted and effective,” according to China’s foreign ministry website.
“As the COVID situation enters a new phase, we have taken the lead in improving our response measures, making them scientifically up-to-date, more targeted and more effective. The prevention and control mechanism has held several press conferences to explain the latest situation and new measures,” Mao Ning said.
According to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, Mao Ning further said: We believe that with the concerted efforts of the Chinese people, China’s economic and social undertakings will soon enter a new stage of stable and orderly growth.”
Local versions of Tylenol and Advil are nearly impossible to find in Chinese pharmacies, according to CNN, fueling outrage across the country. To calm panic buying, local authorities have begun measures to limit sales and increase supplies of the popular antipyretic. Some regions are beginning to limit the amount of medicines they sell, even tablets.
On Dec. 20, more than 500 drugstores in the Chinese city of Zhuhai have pledged to “continuously supply” a number of fever-reducing medications, including ibuprofen, the city government said in a statement, according to CNN. CNN reported. However, there are strict limits on what people can buy.
You can only buy one type of a particular antipyretic. According to news reports, drug sales are limited to a maximum of six tablets or 100 milliliters (3 ounces) of liquid per customer. Nanjing is committed to ensuring a daily supply of medicines. However, it did not provide details on the types of drugs that would have to be purchased in installments at the 150 pharmacies.
(Except for the headline, this article is unedited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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