MANILA - The National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) will temporarily suspend the dispensing of drugs used to combat COVID-19 due to low supply, its chief said Wednesday.

The hospital has procured remdesivir and tocilizumab but is unsure when the supply will arrive, said Dr. Rose Marie Rosete-Liquete.

The hospital has 100 COVID-19 patients admitted, she added.

"Kaya nagsabi kami na kukulangin tayo lalo sa tocilizumab dahil di pa dumadating ang aming procurement because wala nang supply sa supplier itself," she told ABS-CBN's Teleradyo.

(That's why we said we will lack tocilizumab because our procurement don't arrive because the supplier itself has no supply.)

"Wala pang kasiguruhan kung kailan darating."

(We're not sure when it will arrive.)

The specialty hospital's supply of hemoperfusion cartridges is also "critical," Liquete said.

"Meron pa pero critical na rin kasi almost more than 50 percent ng patients namin ay naghemoperfusion o dialysis din," she said.

(We still have some but the supply is critical because almost more than 50 percent of our patients undergo hemoperfusion or dialysis.)

The NKTI, meantime, cannot add more virus beds as it does not have enough manpower. Around 70 NKTI frontliners have resigned in the past month.

"Kung may nagaaply man, may umaalis. Kailangan pa rin natin ng augmentation," she said.

(If there are people who apply, there are those who quit. We still need augmentation.)

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