Those living in big cities can get oral drugs like Paxlovid free of cost, but the medicines have become a much-sought after commodity in mainland China, where demand for antiviral and paracetamol-based medication has surged after the Chinese government relaxed Covid-19 control measures last month. File Photo.
New Delhi: With Covid-19 variants ravaging mainland China, people in nearby Hong Kong are scrambling to keep themselves and their families safe. Online buyers are willing to pay as much as HK$ 4,800 (USD 614) for a five-day course of Covid-19 antiviral pills. This in turn is encouraging patients to illegally resell their unused medications through a Hong Kong-based second-hand goods platform.
Pharmacies in public hospitals have begun removing the pills from their packaging before dispensing them to patients to deter any illegal reselling of the antivirals, the Hong Kong government said in a statement on Thursday.
Those living in big cities can get oral drugs like Paxlovid free of cost, but the medicines have become a much-sought after commodity in mainland China, where demand for antiviral and paracetamol-based medication has surged after the Chinese government relaxed Covid-19 control measures last month.
On local community marketplace–Carousell, at least eight accounts were found that had posted queries with the intention of buying such anti-Covid-19 drugs such as Paxlovid and Molnupiravir. Both the Covid-19 antiviral drugs were in huge demand and residents were willing to pay between HK$700 and HK$4,800 to acquire them, although illegally.
A potential buyer on Carousell who did not want to divulge his name acknowledged that the purchase and selling of such medications online were illegal. “There are people who need these drugs so I am sourcing it for them,” he said.
“Some people offered the drugs to me after receiving them from the government’s medicine delivery service and some people got them from the designated clinics,” the buyer said.
He revealed that he was willing to pay HK$4,000 for Paxlovid pills that expired in March and between HK$3,000 and HK$3,500 for any medicines that were likely to expire by February, he said.
Another buyer claimed they needed the pills because they were travelling overseas, while two others said they were buying them for elderly relatives and friends.
On Facebook, Molnupiravir is selling for HK$3,500, and another seller on Carousell is offering it for between HK$5,000 and HK$7,000 per bottle.
Chemists at state-run drug stores said, stocks of the anti-viral drugs were running out but the demand for the medicines was very high both in China and Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, Covid-19 patients can get Paxlovid and Molnupiravir only from public hospitals, designated clinics, elderly homes, isolation facilities and telemedicine services, as well as private hospitals and doctors. To be eligible for the antiviral drugs, patients must be either aged 60 and above, diagnosed at high risk or suffer from chronic ailments.
A five-day course of pills is free for Hong Kong residents, while non-residents must pay HK$6,000 to receive the prescription medications from public or private healthcare facilities.
The recent spike in Covid-19 cases in several provinces of China has prompted this panic buying of various medications in Hong Kong, with some residents hoping to send supplies to relatives across the border.
Last week, three men were arrested in Hong Kong on suspicions of trying to sell doses of an unregistered drug named Primovir, an Indian-made generic version of Covid-19 medicine Paxlovid.
On Friday, a government spokesperson warned that both the illegal sale, including supply without payment, and possession of the drugs without a doctor’s prescription were criminal offences and carried a maximum punishment of a HK$100,000 as penalty and two years in jail.
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