A pharmacy in Beijing with empty shelves of cold medicines is seen on October 23. (Mainichi/Ichiro Ohara)
[Pechino = Fukutaro Yamashita]In China, pharmacies have hiked prices four to five times since the outbreak of the new coronavirus began earlier this month amid an extreme shortage of medicines. Although the government has undertaken a large-scale fact-finding investigation and is supporting pharmaceutical companies to increase production, the increase in the number of infected people cannot be stopped and it seems difficult to solve the shortage soon.
Medicines and medical devices said to be in serious shortage in China ・Traditional Chinese medicine “Lianhua Qingxiang”
At 9 am on the 18th, more than 20 people waited in front of a pharmacy in the Chaoyang district of central Beijing, where the temperature was below freezing. Antigen test kit and traditional chinese medicine
are people buying. None of the products arrived that day and a 72-year-old woman who lives nearby said: “I’m exhausted after going to so many pharmacies.” According to an employee, 200 boxes of Renka Seisho arrived four days ago and sold out the same day.
Another pharmacy in the Chaoyang District bought a box of 25 test kits for 61 yuan ($12) earlier this month and sold them for 229 yuan. In major online stores, Lenhua Seishou, which was bought by drug chains for 18.5 yuan a box, was sold for more than 100 yuan. They are all 4 to 5 times more expensive than pharmacies in the surrounding area and they seem to be using the extreme shortage of products as a business opportunity.
As evidence of the shortage of medicines and the anxiety of the residents, various false rumors are circulating on social networks. Because peaches contain vitamin C and potassium, the number of people buying canned peaches has increased in hopes that they will help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. On the 9th, a food company in Dalian, Liaoning Province, which produces and sells the peach, released a statement saying that the yellow peach itself has no medicinal properties. Chinese media reported that residents were competing for vitamin C-rich lemons in fruit markets and supermarkets.
“N95” masks, often used for medicines, medical equipment and medical use, which are said to be in short supply in China
Governments are not sitting on their hands. The General Administration of Market Surveillance, which has jurisdiction over antitrust laws, has issued a warning that unscrupulous pharmacies will be fined or ordered to suspend operations under the pricing law. It has already sent staff to more than 3,000 retailers in Beijing alone, and at least five have been fined. The pharmacy manager, who was sentenced to pay several hundred thousand yuan, explained to the newspaper: “We were able to buy it because we had a special route…” The government inquired about the price increases on Hotline 12315, which is a contact point for consumer complaints.
On the 20th, the Executive Committee of the State Council (central government), chaired by the prime minister, announced that it would “promote the expansion of pharmaceutical production by companies and imports from abroad”. According to an AFP news agency report on the 23rd, the government has begun forcibly collecting some products from at least 11 of the 42 manufacturers of antigen test kits nationwide.
Behind the rush to take such measures, there seems to be a sense of crisis that residents’ dissatisfaction could turn on the government. The series of turmoil was triggered by the sudden change in the “zero corona” policy.
On the 23rd, the Hong Kong newspaper reported the government’s internal estimate that the cumulative number of people infected this month has reached about 250 million, reaching 17 percent of the population of about 1.4 billion. The number of infections is expected to peak after the end of the year and demand should continue to rise for the time being, outpacing the increase in drug production.
