All precautions for maintaining social distancing and Covid-19 protocol were tossed aside as hundreds of people queued up shoulder-to-shoulder to buy Remdesivir at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Saturday. Day 1 of Remdesivir’s sale at the stadium saw people gathering in large numbers to procure the antiviral drug for their loved ones.
Waiting for his turn, 30-year-old Sandeep Raj said he has been trying to get Remdesivir for the past 10 days. His parents had tested positive for Covid-19 and doctors prescribed Remdesivir for both of them.
On Saturday morning, Sandeep lost his father. He rushed to the stadium to get Remdesivir for his mother to save her.
“My father is gone. I have kept his body in my house and have come here to buy medicine for my mother. I have been trying to get it for the past 10 days. I even have a token, but now there are so many others here. It’s difficult to differentiate between those who have a token and those who don’t. I don’t know what to do. It is a terrible situation,” Sandeep said.
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“I have the money and the required documents, but I still can’t get the medicine,” he said.
A long wait for Remdesivir
Just like Sandeep, Muthamizh Azhagan too had come to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to get Remdesivir. He said he had been waiting since 1 am for his turn. Like Sandeep, he too got a token in the morning but soon the number of people trying to get Remdesivir increased manifolds.
“My father, mother and brother are Covid-19 positive. My father and brother urgently need Remdesivir. My mother is on dialysis and is home quarantined. The distribution of Remdesivir needs to be better organised,” Muthamizh Azhagan said. He had come from Tambaram, around 30 km from Chennai, in the hope of getting Remdesivir for his family.
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Expressing concerns over absence of social distancing at the stadium where the state government was distributing Remdesivir, he said, “I am Covid-19 negative, but look at the situation here. Even people who don’t have Covid-19 might end up contracting the disease in this situation. The pandemic will never end if this is the condition.”
Appealing to the state’s newly elected Chief Minister MK Stalin, he said he has “great hopes” from him. “We only want to request him to organise this (distribution of Remdesivir) in a better manner. We need to end the pandemic, but in this manner the pandemic will never end,” Muthamizh Azhagan said.
Another person standing in the queue for Remdesivir said there is chaos because there are no clear orders.
Police personnel deployed outside the stadium were seen trying to control the crowd but the rush for the injection was such that their efforts bore no results.
Limited supply of Remdesivir
Tamil Nadu is getting 7,000 Remdesivir injections every day. The state government has been arguing that this is far below its requirement and has demanded that its daily allocation should be increased to 20,000 injections daily.
Recently, the state government informed the Madras High Court that it has decided to distribute Remdesivir at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium because it has a large space and social distancing can be ensured there. Earlier, the injection was being distributed at the Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital.
Officials said at present only 300 injections will be distributed every day at the stadium. This is far below the requirement of the hundreds who thronged to the venue on Day 1 of the distribution.
Speaking to India Today TV, Muthamizh Azhagan said he needs 12 Remdesivir injections (six each for his father and brother), while Sandeep he needs six injections for his mother.
ALSO WATCH | Chennai: People crowd outside Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to get Remdesivir, flout Covid protocols
Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/coronavirus-outbreak/story/social-distancing-flouted-hundreds-throng-buy-remdesivir-at-chennai-stadium-1802969-2021-05-15
