Croatia is running out of Remdesivir, the antiviral drug used in the treatment of COVID-19, and new supplies have not come in yet, the Croatian Association of Hospital Doctors (HUBOL) warned on Tuesday.

Currently, 613 COVID patients are being treated in Croatian hospitals, which have 483 vials of Remdesivir at their disposal. Given that six vials are needed for the treatment of one patient, the present supplies are enough to treat 80 patients, the organisation said.

The Health Ministry on Tuesday denied media reports about a shortage of drugs used in the treatment of people infected with COVID-19, saying that there are sufficient supplies to meet the present needs.

HUBOL said that the hospitals running out of Remdesivir had ordered new supplies from the Ministry’s Service for Medicinal Products in mid-July, after which they were told that the supplies of this drug had been used up and that the Ministry would order more of it.

These hospitals have used up their supplies of Remdesivir and have still not received new ones even though they placed their orders several weeks ago, HUBOL said, noting that the drug Remdesivir can be ordered only via the Ministry and that hospitals cannot get it on their own.

Some hospitals still have this drug, but their supplies are dwindling, and the Health Ministry is the only authority responsible for the redistribution of Remdisivir from the hospitals that still have it to those that do not until a new delivery arrives, HUBOL said.

It was only after the tragic death of the reporter Vladimir Matijanic that the Ministry ordered an inventory to ascertain which hospitals have Remdisivr and which do not. The Ministry is the only authority in charge of the distribution of this drug, HUBOL said.

The organization said that the drug Ronapreve, which was referred to in the Ministry’s statement today, has no effect in the treatment of the disease caused by the Omicron variant of the new coronavirus.