- Health

Will there be drug shortages due to COVID-19?

In December 2019, a mystery death due to an identified infection was found in Wuhan district, China. It was later found that the culprit that is responsible for this unusual death is known by the name Covid-19, a newly formed virus. Since this discovery, a large number of China residents had been infected by this virus, and the majority of them were found dead after developing symptoms such as fever, shortness of breath and cough. Soon after death, it was found that this virus had already traveled to other parts of the continent, causing death and damage to other countries as well. In March 2020, It is reported that this virus has spread and infected millions of people worldwide, besides that it also killed thousands of people at that time. Due to its fast emergence and infectivity, the WO (World Health Organization) had declared this virus as a pandemic, causing a huge stir and unrest to every part of this world. Soon after that, good news was received in the form of Covid 19 vaccine, the only weapon that can help to save our mankind from Covid-19 slaughter. However, not everything had gone to plan.

Although the emergence of vaccines seems to reduce the number of cases appearing on a daily basis, it also seems that Covid-19 virus had other ideas. As soon as the vaccine is available, they begin to mutate themselves into another virus form which is more potent and dangerous. Because of these mutant Covid-19 viruses, the Covid-19 cases start to rise again and up until now, the number seems to keep on increasing. This is very alarming because the world now needs to face a major threat of having higher chances of getting infected. Due to the high number of cases, the frontliners and the healthcare system starts to feel very exhausted and overwhelmed. When will this infection go off? It has been more than 2 years and this pandemic seems more to stay rather than go.

Majority of the countries had encountered shortage of supply especially in the medical department. A very high number of cases will mean a high number of patients that will stay in a hospital in order to receive their treatment. This condition keeps on getting worse to the fact that the hospital is overcrowded, beds need to be added at an unsuitable place such as the parking lot. Medical staff especially doctors and nurses are worn out due to overload work and most importantly, some countries even are experiencing drug shortages. For example, the United States of America has reported that they are having drug shortages because of the high number of Covid-19 patients in their country. They also expect that there will be more shortage in the near future if the situation keeps on worsening. The same can also be said to other countries.

If this pandemic keeps going on like this, it is expected that the whole world will experience a shortage of drugs. This can be made worse if the Covid-19 virus starts to mutate again and develop another new strain. As for now, we as responsible citizens need to take care of ourselves and keep on following the Covid-19 standards operation procedure and stay safe. Remember to always wear your mask if you go outside, sanitize your hand regularly, avoid crowded places, clean your space and also get help quickly if you have any Covid-19 symptoms. By adhering to these SOPs, hopefully we will be able to do our part and help to reduce the Covid-19 cases. Until then, stay safe.