The oral (edible) treatment for COVID-19, purchased by the government from pharmaceutical company Pfizer, is arriving in Korea for the first time today (13th).



According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21,000 people from Pfizer's COVID-19 treatment drug, Paxrovid, will arrive at Incheon International Airport at 12:05 pm today.



This is part of a total of 762,000 people's supply of food medicines contracted by the government with Pfizer.



In addition to the 21,000 servings, an additional 10,000 people are expected to arrive by the end of this month.



Today's dose will be prescribed to COVID-19 patients from tomorrow.



As the amount of treatment is limited, the authorities plan to prioritize and administer it.



Priority is given to patients with mild to moderate disease (between mild and severe) who are at high risk of progressing to severe disease and who are over 65 years of age or who are immunocompromised and who receive home treatment or are admitted to a living treatment center.



The time of administration must be within 5 days of symptom onset, and asymptomatic patients are excluded from administration.



In the future, the authorities plan to adjust and expand the drug target in consideration of the supply amount and the trend of patient occurrence.



After non-face-to-face treatment, home therapists can receive medicines from local governments or pharmacies, and residents of community treatment centers can receive medicines through dedicated medical staff.



Authorities will also push for medication if necessary, even for hospital inpatients.



According to the results of previous clinical trials, the risk of hospitalization or death of high-risk mild and moderate COVID-19 patients was reduced by 88% when administered with oral treatment.



Accordingly, the health authorities expect that the number of severe cases of gastritis will decrease and the medical system will be stabilized in the long term when oral medications are used.



In addition, the authorities believe that it will be effective for patients infected with various mutated Corona 19 viruses, including Omicron, due to the nature of Paxrobead, which inhibits virus proliferation in the body.



As it is the first treatment used, there are concerns about adverse reactions, but the side effects reported so far are mild symptoms such as abnormal taste, diarrhea, increased blood pressure, and muscle pain, so the authorities do not see safety issues as significant.



Separately, the government also signed a contract with Merck & Company (MSD) of the US to purchase the oral treatment 'molnupiravir' for 242,000 people.



The government has secured a total of 1,400,000 food treatments for COVID-19, including a total of 762,000 for Paxrovid and 242,000 for Molnupiravir. no see.



Yuhan Corporation was in charge of distribution of domestic medicines.



Pfizer's Paxrovid was approved for emergency use by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on the 27th of last month.



The FDA's review results for the use of molnupiravir will be available soon.