Potential COVID-19 treatments chloroquine, Z-Paks are in short supply, Premier analysis shows

While the Trump administration has touted the potential for certain drug combinations such as chloroquine and azithromycin to treat severely ill COVID-19 patients, new data shows those medicines may be in short supply.

Premier, a health improvement company, looked at data (PDF) on purchasing patterns and current fill rates and found that 15 essential drugs experienced the greatest spikes in demand during the month of March but were also unable to be supplied in the requested quantities.

That’s two early warning signals that those drugs are running low, according to Premier.

Shortages are most common in the hospital setting and are most acute in New York, where the majority of COVID-19 patients are receiving care.

Antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are at risk of being depleted soon, according to Premier’s data. Hydroxychloroquine has seen a 260% increase in demand in March and the fill rate drop to 35%, while orders for chloroquine increased 3,000% in March and the fill rate dropped to 19%.

Antibiotics used to cure infections are currently depleted as well. Orders for azithromycin increased 170% in March and the fill rate dropped to 60%.