China’s elites are stockpiling supplies of Paxlovid, Pfizer’s Covid-19 antiviral drug, and giving it away to curry favour with business associates as an unprecedented Covid wave sweeps the country, leaving hospitals stripped of resources and ordinary people struggling to access medication.

Multiple public and private hospitals told the Financial Times that the drug, which is widely available in the west, was either out of stock or only available to patients with severe underlying health conditions. Paxlovid is generally prescribed to treat mild to moderate Covid cases.

Doctors said that officials and business owners had snapped up significant stocks of the pills at exorbitant prices to protect their elderly parents, family or friends. The scramble has driven soaring demand for Paxlovid and turned it into an embodiment of the country’s health inequalities, according to analysts.