30,000 Doses of Oral Treatment Arrive This Month... To Be Taken by Symptomatic Patients Starting on the 10th

Initial Shipment of Paxlovid Arrives Tomorrow
Additional 10,000 Doses by End of Month
Prescriptions Start from the 14th

Pfizer's oral COVID-19 treatment, Paxlovid, is being produced in Freiburg, Germany.
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] On the 13th, 21,000 doses of Pfizer's oral COVID-19 treatment, Paxlovid, will arrive in South Korea. The government plans to import an additional 10,000 doses by the end of January, sequentially supplying a total of 31,000 doses this month.

A total of 31,000 doses of Paxlovid to be imported by the end of this month

Jeon Hae-cheol, Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety), stated on the 12th, "Tomorrow (the 13th), 21,000 doses of the oral treatment produced by Pfizer are expected to arrive in the country," adding, "Priority will be given to administering the drug to home-treated patients and those admitted to residential treatment centers who are 65 years or older and immunocompromised individuals showing mild to moderate symptoms within five days of symptom onset."

Currently, the government has secured a total of 1,004,000 doses of oral treatments, combining 762,000 doses of Paxlovid and 242,000 doses of Merck (MSD)'s Molnupiravir. Among these, the initial batch of Paxlovid will arrive domestically on the afternoon of the 13th. An additional 10,000 doses will be imported by the end of this month, bringing the total supply to 31,000 doses.

Actual prescriptions will begin on the 14th. According to authorities, this marks the third country in the world to commercialize oral treatments. Yoo Joo-heon, General Team Leader of the Secretariat of the Government-wide Support Committee for COVID-19 Therapeutics and Vaccine Development, stated during the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters regular briefing that "only the United States and Israel are currently administering oral treatments overseas."

Priority for administration is given to home-treated patients or those admitted to residential treatment centers who are 65 years or older or immunocompromised, showing mild to moderate symptoms within five days of symptom onset and at high risk of progressing to severe illness. Among patients eligible for treatment, those with moderate symptoms are not mild but are in a serious condition that does not require oxygen therapy. Asymptomatic individuals are excluded from prescription. Considering the timing, those who developed symptoms from the 10th onward can start treatment.

Even unvaccinated individuals are eligible for treatment without discrimination, as long as symptoms and necessity are recognized. All costs are provided free of charge.

Prescriptions will be made at 91 residential treatment centers nationwide and 281 designated pharmacies. Home-treated patients will receive medication through non-face-to-face consultations followed by delivery via local governments or designated pharmacies. Guardians or others can visit the designated pharmacy to collect the medication, but in unavoidable cases, the health center will deliver the medication directly. Patients admitted to residential treatment centers will receive medication through dedicated medical staff.

Im Suk-young, Director of the Infectious Disease Crisis Response Division at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, explained, "The 21,000 doses correspond to a supply sufficient for three weeks, which means roughly 1,000 patients can be treated daily. We recognize that the supply is somewhat insufficient, so we have adjusted the priority of recipients accordingly."

The authorities plan to gradually expand the eligible population. Deputy Head Jeon said, "As the supply of therapeutics increases in the first quarter, we will broaden the scope of administration focusing on those aged 60 and above with underlying conditions who are at high risk of severe progression." Currently, the emergency use authorization for Paxlovid covers adults and children aged 12 and older weighing 40 kg or more who are at high risk of progressing to severe illness with mild to moderate symptoms.

Must be taken for 5 days within 5 days of symptom onset... "Rapid delivery measures to be established and implemented"

The government plans to expedite the confirmation of eligible patients by shortening the schedule for basic epidemiological investigations and initial patient classification so that patients can be identified within 1 to 1.5 days after symptom onset, as oral treatments must be taken within five days of symptom onset.

Team Leader Yoo stated, "The current approval itself stipulates administration within five days of symptom onset," adding, "In principle, patients beyond five days are not eligible for treatment." This measure is because Pfizer's clinical trials were conducted on patients within five days of symptom onset, and safety for patients beyond five days has not been confirmed.

Therefore, even if a patient is designated as eligible, if they do not receive the medication within five days of symptom onset, they cannot take it in principle. Yoo explained, "The government will do its best to establish and implement measures to ensure rapid delivery to prevent such situations. If medication is received after five days, patients should consult medical staff before taking it."

Additionally, prescribed medication must be taken for the full five days even if symptoms improve during treatment. Kang Seok-yeon, Director of the Drug Safety Division at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, explained, "The efficacy rate after five days of administration was about 88%. Taking only three to four days' worth may result in significantly lower effectiveness." Kang emphasized, "Due to the nature of the virus, stopping medication midway can lead to drug resistance, and such resistant viruses can spread and harm others," urging patients to complete the full five-day course.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Since many medications should not be taken concurrently with Paxlovid, administration will be systematically managed through related systems. To prevent co-administration with such drugs, the Drug Utilization Review (DUR) service, which can check prescription history, will be used to decide on administration and verify duplicate prescriptions.

Ritonavir, a component of Paxlovid, inhibits the enzyme 'CYP3A' responsible for metabolizing certain drugs. Therefore, patients taking medications affected by this metabolic process should not take Paxlovid. The following 22 substances, which could pose life-threatening risks if taken with Paxlovid, are prohibited: analgesics (pethidine, piroxicam, propoxyphene), antianginal agents (ranolazine), antiarrhythmics (amiodarone, dronedarone, flecainide, propafenone, quinidine), antigout medication (colchicine), antipsychotics (lurasidone, pimozide, clozapine), ergot derivatives (dihydroergotamine, ergotamine, methylergonovine), lipid-lowering agents (lovastatin, simvastatin), pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) treatment (sildenafil), sedatives and hypnotics (triazolam, oral midazolam), among others.

Additionally, six substances?antituberculosis drug (rifampin), anticancer agent (apalutamide), herbal medicine (St. John's Wort), and antiepileptic drugs (carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin)?may reduce the effectiveness of Paxlovid. Patients taking these medications must discontinue them and wait a certain period before starting Paxlovid.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.