India now bans exports of Remdesivir drug

India yesterday banned the export of anti-viral drug Remdesivir and its active pharmaceutical ingredients as demand rocketed due to a record surge in Covid-19 infections and led to crippling shortages in many parts. 

New Covid-19 cases surged to 152,879 yesterday, the sixth record rise in seven days, overwhelming hospitals in some regions. India, known as the pharmacy of the world, has already stalled major exports of coronavirus vaccines. Deaths have also surged, with the health ministry reporting 839 fatalities on Sunday - the highest in over five months - taking the total to 169,275.

Meanwhile, China's top disease control official has said the country is formally considering mixing Covid-19 vaccines, while acknowledging the efficacy of current vaccines was "not high".

China has produced 4 vaccines with moderate efficacy rates.

The currently available vaccines "don't have very high rates of protection" Gao Fu, the director of the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a conference in the Chinese city of Chengdu on Saturday.

"Inoculation using vaccines of different technical lines is being considered," he said.

Gao said that taking steps to "optimise" the vaccine process including changing the number of doses and the length of time between doses was a "definite" solution to the efficacy issues.