Now, according to Rauch’s orders, each pharmacy is only allowed to stock one pack of Paxlovid, the Vienna Medical Association criticized in a broadcast at midday. This means that there are only 300 packs in stock in the metropolis of Vienna. “This is a deception of the patients and completely irresponsible,” emphasized Naghme Kamaleyan-Schmied, Vice President of the Medical Association for Vienna, who herself runs a health insurance practice in Vienna. The family doctor pointed out that it is currently the largest corona wave the country has ever seen, pointing to peak values in wastewater monitoring. Paxlovid is an effective drug to prevent severe Covid disease, especially in people at risk.
Delivery constantly postponed
An APA local inspection revealed that Paxlovid was not available at the pharmacy on Naschmarkt in Vienna-Mariahilf on Monday morning. At first it was said that a delivery would arrive in a few days, but that kept getting postponed, it was explained. The pharmacies were asked to only have one pack in stock and to send the remaining surplus back to the medicine wholesaler for redistribution. There are also supply bottlenecks for antibiotics, which are just as important.
“Bottlenecks occur when demand exceeds supply. This was also the case with Paxlovid,” the Austrian Chamber of Pharmacists said on Monday. “Regionally different infection rates and different medical prescribing practices have led to larger regional bottlenecks. This makes it all the more important that the federal government has promised new deliveries and that we can hopefully expect new goods in the pharmacies in the coming weeks,” it was emphasized.
There is also criticism of the distribution of the flu vaccine
There was also renewed criticism from the medical association regarding similar problems with the distribution of the flu vaccination. The vaccine was supposed to be available in doctor’s offices for the first time this season at a discount of the prescription fee, but it is also out of stock in some places, meaning that people who want to be vaccinated buy it at a higher price from the pharmacy. “It is completely unacceptable that large supply gaps continue to occur in Vienna due to poor logistics for the influenza vaccine. The reason for this is the data chaos, for which the minister alone bears full responsibility,” emphasized Kamaleyan-Schmied, who provides free PCR tests for ordinations demanded.
41,690 ÖGK insured people were on sick leave with Covid-19 in the previous week (week 49). In the previous week there were 38,996 people affected, around 2,700 fewer. In addition, in week 49 there were 90,405 sick days due to other flu-like infections and 568 due to “real flu” (influenza), data from the Austrian Health Insurance Fund from Monday show. “The number of people suffering from the real flu and also from Covid continues to rise,” explained ÖGK chief physician Andreas Krauter. He recommended wearing a mask when in crowds, hand disinfection, keeping your distance and regular ventilation, as well as vaccinations once morest influenza and Covid to prevent serious illnesses and secondary diseases.
