The special counter at the Coimbatore Medical College that sold the antiviral drug Remdesivir was closed on Monday.
Though the government had announced on Sunday that all the special counters that sold Remdesivir will be closed from Monday, a large number of people had come to the counter at Peelamedu.
On Sunday, the government revised the protocol for the sale of the drug and announced that hospitals will have to send their representatives to the designated centres to collect it for patients from May 18.
A notice was pasted at the gate of the college stating that the sale of the drug was stopped. People, a few who were also unaware of the closure, got agitated and staged a protest.
The protesters said that the government did not make any arrangements to ensure availability of the drug on Monday. They said that they were sent by private hospitals where their relatives were undergoing treatment for COVID-19.
An official with the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation Ltd, that sold the drug through special such counters across the State, said that a website was being developed for the sale of the drug to private hospitals directly.
Staff Reporter from Salem adds:
In Salem, the special counter that was functioning at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College was also closed.
The sale of drug began on May 8 and a counter was set up at the Government Medical College near Steel Plant here. Besides Salem, patients from neighbouring districts like Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Kallakuruchi, Erode, Namakkal and even Bengaluru travelled here to purchase the drug. Relatives of patients waited in long queue from early hours and after first day, tokens were distributed to the public based on the stock.
According to officials, on an average 300 doses were issued through the counter and up to 50 tokens were issued to the public on a day. The tokens were issued till May 25. However, very few relatives turned up at the counter without knowing about the change in protocol on Monday. Police personnel guided them to get the medicine through respective hospitals.
