6 April 2020 - The continued availability of medicines, in particular those used for patients with COVID-19, is of critical concern for EMA and its partners in the European medicines regulatory network in light of the medical emergency presented by the pandemic.

Some EU Member States have indicated that they are starting to see shortages of certain medicines used for patients with COVID-19 or are expecting such shortages to occur very soon. 

These include medicines used in intensive care units such as certain anaesthetics, antibiotics and muscle relaxants as well as medicines used off-label for COVID-19. EU authorities are therefore putting in place additional measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the supply chain of medicines in a coordinated manner.

Read EMA press release