Against the background of a new outbreak of COVID-19 in China, the local party and business elite are massively purchasing the well-known anti-covid drug Paxlovid from the American corporation Pfizer, the Financial Times reports. This drug is the only foreign anti-covid drug approved by the Chinese authorities for use in the country.

At the same time, the publication reports that local hospitals are experiencing a shortage of Paxlovid amid sharply increased demand in China for all anticovids. The FT cites doctors who say that officials and big businessmen have bought up large quantities of the drug for themselves, their relatives and friends, despite the fact that prices have soared several times.

In mid-December, Pfizer signed a distribution agreement with China’s state-owned Meheco Group, Kommersant reported. The first deliveries of Paxlovid to China took place back in March, when there was a coronavirus outbreak in Shanghai. However, supplies were limited after that, so there are now reports of a shortage of the drug in the country.