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Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has decided to authorize the emergency use of Pfizer's edible drug. The Korean government has signed a pre-purchase contract for 604,000 edible medicines and is also seeking to secure additional supplies. There were 4,207 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, which fell to the 4,000 level in about two weeks.



Reporter Park Soo-jin.



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Ministry of Food and Drug Safety held a briefing a while ago and decided to approve the emergency use of Pfizer's edible Corona 19 treatment Paxrovid.



This is the first time that an oral treatment will be introduced in Korea, and it is intended for use in adults and adolescents aged 12 years or older and with a weight of 40 kg or more, who are at high risk of developing severe coronavirus.



The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, along with the injection-type treatment currently in use, expects that it will help prevent patients from getting seriously ill in living treatment centers or home treatment.



Meanwhile, the government has signed a pre-purchase contract for 604,000 people in relation to the treatment for COVID-19 and is in the process of securing additional supplies.



It is larger than the previously known pre-purchase volume.



[Kwon Deok-cheol/Minister of Health and Welfare: We are also negotiating a pre-purchase contract for 604,000 people and securing additional quantities. It is expected that corona treatment will be available from the end of January next year at the earliest.]



4,207 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 occurred yesterday, and it has fallen to the 4,000 level in 20 days since the 7th.



There is a reason that the number of tests decreased due to the weekend effect, but compared to the 5,316 confirmed cases on Monday last week, 1,109 people decreased.



However, the total number of patients with severe COVID-19 is 1,78, and the number has been in the 1,000 range for a week.



The number of people infected with Omicron mutation, a new mutation of COVID-19, increased by 69, bringing the total to 445.



Yesterday, about 23,000 people received the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and the vaccination rate is 29.6%.