Addressing shortages of Remdesivir in certain regions of the country, the Central government on Wednesday made interim allocation of the key anti-viral drug for 19 states/Union Territories for the period up to April 30. Allocations have been made for Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand.

In a statement, the Union Health Ministry said: "Keeping in mind the sudden surge in demand in the country for Remdesivir injection required for Covid-19 therapy, the manufacturing capacity of domestic Remdesivir manufacturers has been ramped up. "All support is being extended to manufacturers by the government in this endeavour. The production capacity is being ramped up from a current level of 38 lakh vials per month to 74 lakh vials per month, and 20 additional manufacturing sites have been approved. Export of Remdesivir has also been prohibited on April 11 in order to shore up domestic supplies."