Lianhua Qingdian, ibuprofen and other cold and fever medicines are being hard to find in a box.
A few days ago, a number of places to optimize the epidemic prevention and control policy, residents through the Internet platform or pharmacy to buy the "four types of drugs" no longer need to register real-name information.
With this comes a surge in demand for these medicines. Among them, Lianhua Qingdian and Ibuprofen have become the reserve drugs that people scramble to buy, and many pharmacies and online platforms have already experienced off-sale of the drugs.
To this end, some netizens chortled, "I couldn't buy it when I sealed the control, and I still can't buy it when I unblocked it!"
The drug emergency has steeply increased people's anxiety under the epidemic. What's more, some pharmacies have even gotten into the wrong frame of mind, either increasing prices or bundling sales.
China News Weekly found that a separate search for Lianhua Qingdian or ibuprofen in the WeChat program of the People's Pharmacy revealed that there was "no relevant content", but the platform sells a variety of anti-epidemic packages that contain Lianhua Qingdian, with the most expensive one costing as much as 428 yuan, and in addition to Lianhua Qingdian, it also sells 14 kinds of medicines.
People's demand for medicines has surged
Recently, many places across the country have adjusted their policies for the management of online and offline purchases of the "four types of medicines", namely cough suppressants, antipyretics, antivirals and antimicrobials, and have canceled their real-name registration links.
The previously suppressed demand for medicines has been rapidly released along with the optimization of epidemic prevention and control policies.
From the online situation, according to the data released by Jingdong Health on December 6, online sales of drugs with significant growth mainly include cold medicines, fever, cough, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory drugs, the above drugs in the last 7 days turnover ring 18 times more than the October, of which ibuprofen in the number of pieces of the transaction TOP5 drugs ranked fourth.
At present, Jingdong Pharmacy's Lianhua Qingdian capsule needs to be purchased by appointment, and will be available only after Dec. 21; Ali Health Pharmacy needs to grab the goods at 10 a.m. every day.
The offline pharmacy is the "main battlefield" for the public's daily drug purchases. According to the data, in 2021, the retail terminal market sales of pharmacies amounted to 477.4 billion yuan, accounting for 26.9% of the overall drug sales. Therefore, for the surge in demand for medication, the pharmacy's feelings are also more genuine.
A pharmacy distributor in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, reportedly introduced: "A store sold 400,000 boxes a day, the box is empty, the direct pile of stores began to unpack the box to sell, not to the shelves, the workers are working overtime to produce."
Recently, China News Weekly visited eight pharmacies in Beijing, seven of which have been sold out of Lianhua Qingdian, ibuprofen, and some pharmacies even posted directly in front of the door, "Lianhua Qingdian, ibuprofen, out of stock" notice. There are also drugstores that say that not only is Lianhua Qingdian and Ibuprofen, but all cold and fever medicines are gone.
Li Qiang, a netizen, told China News Weekly that, at first, he went to the pharmacy to buy drugs but also specify the brand, specify the manufacturer, and if there is no drugstore to change a pharmacy to take a look. But after turning around several found that there is no, have no choice but to have what to buy.
In addition, he also summarized the experience of buying drugs: "Right now, if there is a long queue in front of any pharmacy, it means that there are still flowers and ibuprofen."
Beijing residents line up to buy medicine. Photo/Yuyuan
China News Weekly followed this netizen's experience, and indeed found a pharmacy with a long line in front of the door, roughly estimated at about 30 people. The staff said the store was also running out of medicines, so it took the measure of limiting purchases, with one person allowed to buy two boxes of Lianhua Qingdian.
On December 12, at the 431st press conference on the prevention and control of the new Crown pneumonia outbreak in Beijing, Xu Hejian, spokesman for the Beijing Municipal Government, said the rapid development of the outbreak has led to a greater pressure on medical services and the supply of medicines in the short term, and advocated that people buy medicines according to their needs, classify their medical treatment, and do not follow blindly or follow the trend.
It's not just Beijing that's experiencing challenges, as many parts of the country are experiencing a boom in drug purchases.
As one of the six major private pharmacy chains, Soyu Civilian Pharmacy, currently in Shandong, Liaoning, Fujian and other areas **** has 4009 stores. Relevant staff said that recently the company's sales of antipyretic cold and flu drugs are more than three times the previous sales. "The demand is really big and needs to be replenished every day, but we have agreements with various pharmaceutical companies and basically still have a guarantee."
Price increases and bundling mess
As the public's demand for medicines soars, some pharmacies are having second thoughts, with price increases and sales occurring from time to time.
December 6, a drugstore Lianhua clear distemper single box sold for 100 yuan," the news rushed to the hot search. The report said a pharmacy sold a single box of 0.35g*48 capsules/box of Lianhua Qingdian capsules for 102 yuan, compared with the usual price of about 30 yuan.
China Newsweek checked several e-commerce platforms and found that the prices of third-party merchants on online shopping platforms were generally high compared with official self-owned stores, and some merchants even sold 24 capsules/box of Lianhua Qingdian capsule for 68 yuan.
China Newsweek also noted that the Hong Kong version of Lianhua Qingdian capsule is gaining popularity on the e-commerce platform. It is reported that the "Hong Kong version" of Lianhua Qingdian capsule produced by Ealing Pharmaceuticals is different from the mainland market in terms of packaging, while the formula and raw materials of the drug itself are the same.
In an e-commerce platform MIDODOO overseas flagship store, the Hong Kong version of the Lianhua Qingdian capsule two boxes on sale, the price of 130 yuan, the average price of 65 yuan per box. If you buy more there are discounts, such as 8 boxes of the price of 470 yuan, the average price of 58.75 yuan, but currently shows out of stock can not be purchased.
It's not just the Lianhua plague that has gone up in price, but also the antigen detection kits.
December 13, China News Weekly from the Haidian District Market Supervision Bureau was informed that a photography studio within the jurisdiction of the high price of antigen detection kits on behalf of the sale of antigen detection kits, a box of 25 new crown antigen detection kits priced at 250 yuan. Currently the studio has been investigated and proposed a fine of 300,000 yuan.
In addition to marking up sales, some pharmacies are also bundling sales in the form of "vaccination kits", including many listed pharmacy chains.
Recently, a netizen living in Fengtai, Beijing, reflected to China News Weekly that the well-known domestic listed pharmacy chain, Lao People's Pharmacy, has bundled sales behavior.
The "vaccination package" sold by the WeChat app of the People's Pharmacy. Photo/WeChat screenshot
On December 13, China News Weekly logged on to the WeChat app of the common people's pharmacy and found that a separate search for Lianhua Qingdian or Ibuprofen showed "no relevant content at the moment," but the platform sells a number of anti-epidemic packages containing Lianhua Qingdian capsules, with the most expensive priced at up to RMB 428 in addition to Lianhua Qingdian capsules, which are also sold on the platform. The most expensive one costs as much as 428 yuan, in addition to the Lianhua Qingdian capsule was also sold 14 kinds of drugs.
Kong Lei, a lawyer at Beijing Dongyuan Law Firm, told China News Weekly that on Dec. 9, 2022, China's General Administration of Market Supervision issued a "Reminder of Caveat on the Price of Epidemic-Related Supplies and the Order of Competition," which explicitly stipulates in Article 3 that the market as a whole shall not force the sale of commodities by hitchhiking when selling epidemic-related supplies and substantially raise prices in disguise.
"On the platform of the common people's pharmacy, the people cannot buy Lianhua Qingdian or Ibuprofen separately, but the epidemic prevention package sold by the people includes Lianhua Qingdian, which is essentially a kind of behavior of forced selling of other commodities when selling epidemic-related materials. In response to the above behavior, the main body of market supervision can be fined and other penalties in accordance with the "People's Republic of China **** and the State Price Law" and other relevant provisions."
It is no coincidence that just a few days ago, the Hexi store of the Common People's Pharmacy Chain Co. was informed of an administrative penalty of a warning and a fine of 500,000 yuan by the Tianjin Municipal Market Supervision and Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Team for allegedly constituting the illegal act of price-boosting by tying on the sale of specified commodities in the sale of Lianhua Qingdian capsule.
Data shows that the common people Pharmacy Chain Co. was founded in 2005 and listed on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2015. In the first three quarters of this year, the company realized operating income of 13.776 billion yuan, up 22.13 percent year-on-year, and net profit of 610 million yuan, up 14.46 percent year-on-year.
As of Sept. 30 this year, the total number of stores in the company's marketing network reached 10,327, realizing coverage of 20 provincial-level markets and more than 140 cities above the prefecture level nationwide.
Demand spurt leads to capacity shortage
Three years after the epidemic, why do we still have a shortage of drugs?
Guo Asia, executive secretary-general of the China Pharmaceutical Materials Association and chairman of the board of directors of Beijing Search Pharmaceutical Information Consulting Co. told China News Weekly that the adjustment of control measures for the four categories of drugs has led to a blowout in demand for related medicines, and the production capacity of enterprises needs to be gradually released, so there is a shortage in a short period of time. "In the past, you might just buy one box, but now you buy five boxes at once, so how can you buy drugs without a shortage?"
A listed pharmacy chain executive expressed the same view to China News Weekly, while also pointing out that the relevant departments did not notify pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies beforehand to reserve time for stocking up before adjusting the control measures, which also exacerbated the "drug panic" to a certain extent.
Beijing is now doing its best to mobilize resources to meet the demand for medicines as people continue to report difficulties in purchasing medicines.
It is reported that the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Pharmaceutical Supervision has asked drug chain enterprises to increase the distribution of power to ensure that the terminal pharmacies at least once a day to replenish the stock, the e-commerce platform has taken the booking mode, the consumer demand can be met in the near future.
December 5, Beijing daily market Lianhua Qingdian particles and capsules *** about 400,000 boxes, priority for the opening of the residential community, supermarkets and other high-traffic, strong sales capacity of the pharmacy, as well as community health service centers to supply. In addition, Beijing also in December 6, a one-time put "Jinhua clear feeling" particles 200,000 boxes, giving priority to the supply of community hospitals.
China Newsweek also called relevant pharmaceutical companies to learn about the drug production situation.
The staff of Ealing Pharmaceuticals said that the specific production capacity of Lianhua Qingdian capsule/granule is not convenient to disclose, but the company has been doing a series of work to improve the production capacity in the past two years, and the current production capacity has been greatly improved.
In recent years, Ealing Pharmaceuticals continued to increase the size of Lianhua Qingdian products to expand production.
Early 2020, the company announced the Lianhua Qingdian series of products capacity enhancement project, plans to complete the Lianhua Qingdian series of products through the expansion of the production workshop, through the addition of new matching production equipment to enhance the capacity of the existing production line, and new Lianhua Qingdian capsules, granules, tablets preparation production line, to improve Lianhua Qingdian products of the industrialization of the ability. After the completion of the project, it is expected to realize the production scale of 7.5 billion capsules, 990 million bags of granules and 2.1 billion tablets of Lianhua Qingdian.
2022 half-yearly report shows, Ealing Pharmaceuticals fixed investment in Lianhua Qingdian series of products capacity enhancement project, the total investment is 254.866 million yuan, the project to reach the scheduled state of use is February 28, 2022, as of the end of the reporting period cumulative investment of 143.6921 million yuan, the progress of investment is 56.38%.
New China Pharmaceutical is the domestic ibuprofen "production of large", the company's ibuprofen actual market share of nearly 40%.
Related staff said, the company is actively cooperating with the national epidemic prevention policy requirements, the production workshop, a number of intelligent production lines at full power, overtime production of ibuprofen tablets, vitamin C tablets and other urgently needed medicines, to protect the market supply.
The aforementioned listed pharmacy chain executives said that with the increasing production capacity, it is expected that in less than half a month, the public can get relief from the problem of purchasing drugs.
Meanwhile, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Pharmaceutical Supervision also emphasized that people are urged to buy drugs reasonably and rationally.
Yang Li, deputy director of the pharmacy department at Beijing Tiantan Hospital of Capital Medical University, also said that more of the new infections of the new coronavirus have been found to be asymptomatic. Asymptomatic infected people in isolation during medical observation did not appear related symptoms or signs, then keep moderate rest, drink a lot of water can be, do not need to use drugs and any other therapeutic measures, according to the current policy, as long as the isolation, to avoid contagion can be. It makes little sense to stock up on your own medication, especially a large quantity of a specific drug, specifically for new cases of pneumonia.
References:
Sales of cold and flu medicines have risen significantly in a short period of time, is there a need to "stock up on medicines"? Economic Daily News, 2022-12-06
By Yu Yuan