Just early this week, our government was in consideration to purchase Merck Sharp & Dohme’s groundbreaking COVID-19 antiviral pills. According to promising clinical data, these pills are to cut hospitalisation and fatality rates by half.
Yesterday, Minister of Health, Khairy Jamaluddin announced Malaysia has successfully procured the pills for a total of 150,000 COVID patients. Our country now joins South Korea, Australia and Singapore in similar deals for the procurement of these antiviral pills. The government’s purchase price of the pills however, remain confidential as signed in the letter of undertaking.
Molnupiravir is a groundbreaking innovative treatment, an added arsenal alongside vaccines to fight the deadly virus.
Both vaccinated and unvaccinated patients are eligible for the drug’s prescription, administered at public healthcare facilities for free. Additionally, only COVID-positive patients are to consume the pills. To be more precise, those experiencing symptoms over five days, and patients of category three, four and five.
The Health Minister also said that decision was made after considering the country’s current transition into the endemic phase. One where society now coexists with the virus amidst vaccinations and health measures.
To this date, Malaysia ranks third highest number of COVID-19 infected patients in Southeast Asia, at 2.3 million. Movement restrictions, on the other hand, are easing up as cases are meeting a downward trend amidst robust vaccination programmes.
The procurement of the antiviral drug, however, supplies a beacon of hope for the better. Malaysia now spearheads towards a clearer, more robust path of recovery most especially in light of the procurement of Merck’s COVID-19 antiviral pills and rigorous vaccination rollouts.
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