According to reports , the e-commerce sales of flu drugs in China have surged by over 100 times compared to a year ago as people are stockpiling them. This surge in demand for flu medication is believed to be caused by a recent increase in infections, leading to panic in the country as it struggles to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
An analytics tracking site, Liandanlu, reportedly stated that the sale of the generic flu medicine oseltamivir has soared to approximately 533,100 units on Chinese e-commerce platforms Taobao and Tmall during the first 13 days of March.
The daily average volume jumped 129-fold from a year ago, data showed.
“People are more likely to panic following the massive Covid outbreak earlier,” Wang Ruizhe, a Shanghai-based healthcare analyst stated, adding, “That combined with a relatively low stock of the antiviral led to a temporary supply-demand mismatch and price hikes.”
Hoarding the medicine betrays high levels of anxiety in China where hospitals were overwhelmed as Beijing unexpectedly lifted all of its Covid curbs at the end of 2022. To avoid a repeat of the Covid desperation, people in China are buying the flu medicines, Wang Ruizhe reiterated.
“It seems some people are hoarding the antiviral this time. The spread of flu among children is fanning anxiety among parents. The impact of the earlier Covid wave may have also fueled concern,” Wang Ruizhe told said.
Flu cases in China have been surging with the positivity rate being 42% in the week beginning March 5, up from 25% a week earlier, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said.
