Antiviral Drugs out of Stock as ‘Influenza’ Rages Across China

Chinese media warn consumers against 'hoarding panic' as COVID fears grow

Elementary school students are accompanied by their parents as they walk to school on the first day of the new semester in Beijing on February 13, 2023. WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images

Schools across China are closing their doors due to a surge of fever and flu-like symptoms throughout the country. Chinese authorities have insisted that the widespread outbreak is due to a strain of influenza A, while the antiviral drug Oseltamivir (available in the United States under the brand name “Tamiflu”) is sold out in many Chinese pharmacies.

The Epoch Times reported recently that China could be facing a massive wave of COVID-19 infections, with the Shanghai Metro system issuing a document to employees titled “Procedure to Handle COVID-19 Positive Passengers” and warning staff “to prepare for epidemic control.”

State-Controlled Media Report on Influenza, Not COVID-19

On Feb. 27, Chinese state media confirmed that “the intensity of seasonal influenza epidemics is currently on the rise.” However, the article said that members of the public should not self-medicate or try to stock-up on antiviral medication, warning that “hoarding medicines is hoarding panic.”

Doctors in China told the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times that the flu-like illness has been more serious than in previous years, and that it is difficult to tell if the fever-type illness currently spreading in China is a strain of influenza or the CCP virus (COVID-19).

Raging ‘Influenza’

Chinese media reported this week that many schools were closed across the country due to the prevalence of the flu infection, including in larger cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Zhejiang.

A school in Shanghai’s Qingpu District notified parents that classes had been suspended because many students were reporting similar symptoms: fever, cough, sore throat, headache, and fatigue. The similarity of these symptoms to those of COVID-19, however, caused widespread concern among parents. The local Education Bureau subsequently stated that the students were suffering from influenza A,  Chinese media reported.

The article suggested that the world was moving from a “COVID-19 season” to an “influenza season.”

Flu or CCP Virus?

A doctor at the outpatient clinic of Beijing’s Youan Hospital told The Epoch Times that “There are many patients with fever and flu at the ER … many children in Beijing are having fever. What is it—flu, COVID, or something else? It’s hard to say.”

The doctor also mentioned that the hospital is out of drugs used to control fevers, but that Oseltamivir is still available.

A specialist at Beijing Children’s Hospital told The Epoch Times that the ‘flu’ is indeed more serious than in previous years, while a doctor from Hebei Children’s Hospital confirmed this observation.

On Feb. 27, Chinese virologist Dong-Yan Jin told the Chinese state-controlled Economic View that, “Judging from the data released by the China National Influenza Center, the influenza A infection is showing a slight upward trend ... for most people, the lethality of influenza A is relatively weak, [but] attention should be paid to the infection of influenza A among the elderly and children.”

When The Epoch Times consulted Beijing’s CDC, however, the staff member on duty denied that their office had received any notifications of a widespread influenza-like illness in Beijing.

A file photo shows a security operative in a protective suit keeping watch as medical workers attend to patients at the fever department of Tongji Hospital, a major facility for COVID-19 patients in Wuhan, Hubei province, China on January 1, 2023. REUTERS

Oseltamivir Out of Stock

Oseltamivir was out of stock at 4 pharmacies in Beijing contacted by The Epoch Times. According to one salesperson, it is unknown when it will be available again.

Zhao Fenghua, Hong Ning, and Alex Wu contributed to this report.