According to South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Pfizer's COVID-19 antiviral pills have been authorized for emergency use.
Paxlovid has been cleared to treat mild to moderate coronavirus infections in patients at heightened risk of hospitalization or fatality, health officials said.
South Korea has purchased 604,000 pill-type COVID-19 therapies and is seeking to increase its stock of home remedies to 1 million, joining a nationwide race to get tablet formulations that are emerging as the new hope in the protracted struggle against the virus.
South Korea reinstated strict distancing restrictions last week after relaxing them in November, following a succession of record daily new infections and dangerous cases that strained medical systems, despite a vaccination rate of over 92% for people aged 18 and older.
Health officials expect Paxlovid to aid in the prevention of major deterioration in patients admitted to residential treatment centers or treated at home by diversifying COVID-19 treatments beyond the injections currently used in the field, drug safety minister Kim Gang-lip said at a press briefing.
South Korea has already obtained 604,000 pill-based courses - 242,000 under the Merck label and 362,000 under the Pfizer label, the Korea Agency for Disease Prevention and Control disclosed on Monday. The country intends to order an additional 400,000 units early next month.
Following Pfizer's pill form treatment, the U.S. FDA gave the green light for Merck's COVID-19 therapy pill molnupiravir for emergency usage last week.
While Pfizer's pill was proven to minimize serious sickness and death from COVID-19 infection by 88%, Merck's investigational medication exhibited a 30% efficacy rate.
Because of the superior advantages and lesser side effects, governments are hurrying to select Pfizer's medicine as their first line of defense.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Ministry organized a team of specialists from both inside and outside the country to assess the safety and efficacy of Paxlovid, and decided the pill is needed to address the ongoing global health crisis.
The treatment is a protease inhibitor antiviral therapy that has been specifically developed to be taken orally, allowing it to be provided at the first sign of infection or awareness of an exposure.
The medicine will be prescribed to adults or children 12 years of age or older who weigh more than 40 kilograms and have mild to moderate symptoms with a high risk of developing a severe case of coronavirus because of the factors such as underlying disorders.
