COVID-19: Thailand buys 50,000 courses of medicine to treat Paxlovid

According to the Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Bangkok, Director General Somsak Akkasilp said that the Department of Health Services of Thailand has been in close contact with Pfizer since August 2021 and ordered Paxlovid on January 19. Paxlovid was approved by the Food and Drug Administration of Thailand on January 28 and approved by the Cabinet before the contract was signed on March 24.

Mr. Somsak said the drug Paxlovid is expected to arrive in Thailand in early April before being distributed to provincial hospitals across the country. Clinical trials have shown that Paxlovid prevents 88% of the risk of death or hospitalization after patients are given the drug within 5 days of the onset of symptoms.

According to Mr. Somsak, not all people with COVID-19 will be given Paxlovid. Studies show that 50% of people infected with the Omicron variant will not develop any symptoms and only 50% of people with symptoms require medication. The doctor will prescribe the necessary drugs to the patient based on their health and vaccination records. Those who have completed the basic dose of COVID-19 vaccine and have no underlying diseases will be prescribed a Thai herb.

Mr Somsak said the instructions for prescribing Paxlovid would be similar to those for Molnupiravir that the Health Services Administration had purchased previously. According to the guidelines for the use of Molnupiravir published on March 21, Paxlovid will be prescribed for the elderly, those with underlying medical conditions and those who have not been vaccinated or only received one dose of the vaccine.

Regarding the situation of COVID-19 epidemic in Thailand, this Southeast Asian country on the morning of March 24 recorded 27,024 new cases and 82 deaths, bringing the total number of cases since the beginning of the epidemic to 3,450,980 cases (including 3,450,980 cases. total 1,227,545 cases this year), of which 24,579 people did not survive (including 2,881 cases this year).