MANAMA: Bahrain will soon roll out the oral Covid-19 antiviral Paxlovid, confirmed a senior medic.
The country is awaiting the shipment of the medicine manufactured by Pfizer, which was approved for emergency use in Bahrain earlier this month, National Taskforce to Combat Covid-19 senior member Dr Jameela Al Salman said.
The National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) approved the pill after its pharmaceutical products regulation department evaluated data provided by Pfizer.
“After dealing with Covid-19 for two years, it’s important at this stage to use medications to battle the virus,” Dr Al Salman said.
“Paxlovid would limit the replication of the virus. It’s used for people with mild and moderate symptoms and has been proven effective.
“Initial results show that it reduces the risk of hospitalisation by 88 per cent, which is encouraging.”
The Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) infectious diseases consultant explained that patients can take the pills at home for five days.
“The medication has been approved for use in Bahrain and we’re waiting for it to be shipped. We added it to our medication list based on scientific and international studies.”
Paxlovid consists of two, co-packaged antiviral medicine (PF-07321332 and Ritonavir) designed to stop the virus from multiplying in the body. Pfizer has said that the drug showed near 90pc efficacy in preventing hospitalisations and deaths in high-risk patients, with recent data suggesting the pill was also effective against the Omicron variant.
Bahrain has been at the forefront in acquiring all approved medicines for the virus in line with global protocols.
Sotrovimab – developed by UK’s GlaxoSmithKline and US firm Vir Biotechnology – was adopted in June, while Merck pill Molnupiravir and Regn-Cov2, an artificial drug for prophylaxis, were approved in August. Hydroxychloroquine, one of the earliest drugs to treat Covid-19, was approved in April last year.
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