The antiviral drug Remdesivir has been under the spotlight as it is currently being used in the treatment of COVID-19. Several posts associated with the shortage of the drug, duplication of the drug and the price or black marketing of the drug is doing rounds on social media. During the time when people are desperately looking for medicines specifically for Remdesivir, an injection named “Covipri” is circulating on social media, with many referring to it as the Remdesivir injection. This drug helps doctors to reduce the severity of the infection among Covid positive patients. This is the reason why the medicine is in high demand.
Amidst this, an image of “Covipri” packets, with “Remdesivir” injection written on them, is being shared on Facebook. Many users are claiming that the drug is available and people who need these for Covid patients can contact them.
Fact Check-
We started observing the “Covipri” medicine box very carefully which raised several questions on its authenticity of the drug as we were able to spot several punctuation and grammatical errors.
Firstly, we observed that it is mntions, “For used in India only. Not for export”, which is wrong English.
Secondly, we found that the “Caution” part says, “It is a dangerous to take this preparation Except under medical supervision”, which again is a grammatically wrong sentence.
Thirdly, the address given as manufacturer’s details are also wrong. We found that two places are mentioned as Mettupalayam and Singtam with they claim are in Sikkim. But with a simple keyword search on Google, we found that Singtam is in Sikkim, while Mettupalayam is in Tamil Nadu.
Next, we ran a keyword search on Covipri, and found a tweet with the viral images by the verified Twitter handle of DCP (Crime), Delhi Police, Monika Bhardwaj. She stated that “This is #Fake. No #Remdesivir by the name #COVIPRI exists. This complete racket has been busted but some injections may still be in circulation. Please do not buy from unverified sources.”
Next, Fact Crescendo spoke to Monika Bhardwaj, DCP (Crime), Delhi Police, who she clarified to us that “Covipri is a fake drug and not a Remdesivir injection. Earlier we thought that people were only black marketing the drug but later we found that a fake drug manufacturer was behind the racket. We have arrested the rackeeter but we are suspecting that there are still few more injection circulating in the market. Please do not buy medicines from unknown and non-trusted sources. There is no drug by the name of Covipri which is a Remdesivir injection.”
We also found another clarification tweet by the official handle of the Delhi Commissioner who stated that “Delhi Police working on useful information arrested 5 culprits in a prolonged investigation & unearthed a ‘pharmaceutical’ unit at Kothdwar, Uttarakhand manufacturing large quantities of fake Remdesivir injections (COVIPRI) sold at price over Rs. 25000.”
Conclusion- Fact Crescendo has found the above-mentioned post to be False. There is no Remdesivir injection by the name of Covipri. This complete racket has been busted but some injections may still be in circulation. We request our readers to not buy Remdesivir from any unverified sources.
