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The News in Brief

Monday, June 21
Prepared by the Messenger Staff

US gifts $4 million worth of Remedisivir to Georgia

According to Tengiz Tsertsvadze, director of the Tbilisi Infectious Diseases Hospital, the American pharmaceutical company Gilead has donated 10,000 vials of RemedSivir worth $ 4 million to Georgia.

“The American pharmaceutical company Gilead has gifted Georgia and COVID patients approximately 10,000 million bottles of COVID-19 antiviral drug Remedisivir free of charge and branded medicine (Veklury) instead of the generic one, which will help us in the successful management of COVID patients.

“Under the current law, Gilead has the right to supply branded medicines mainly to the United States, the European Union, and a few other countries, while all other countries are remitted to India, Pakistan, and Egypt, which produce generic drugs under Gilead's license,” stated Tsertsvadze.



Gamkrelidze: It is summer, we want more freedom, but not at the expense of health

“This would be playing with fire, you know? We have not yet defeated the coronavirus infection. There were 521 cases in the country today, 12 people died in the last 24 hours; these are serious numbers for a small country like Georgia.

I understand that it is difficult, it is summer, we all want more freedom, but it should not be at the expense of human health and life.”



Tsertsvadze: Restrictions on movement at night will probably be lifted

“I think, the restrictions should be lifted. Most of them already have. The only one left is on movement, and that too for a minimum period of time. However, this is not the case everywhere in the world. Unlike Georgia, the easing of lockdowns in leading European countries has only just begun.”