Although 460,000 Doses of Oral Antiviral Drugs Are Imported... Paxlovid Stock Only 49,000 Doses Available

Remdesivir Administered to 52,557 People
460,000 Treatment Courses to Be Introduced by End of April

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] With about 50,000 doses of the oral antiviral treatment (Paxlovid) remaining in stock domestically, an additional 460,000 doses of oral antiviral treatments will be introduced by the end of April.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) on the 25th, as of 6:30 PM on the 24th, the total stock of Paxlovid was 48,947 doses, and 113,783 doses have been used. Gilead's injectable drug, Veklury (Remdesivir), has been administered to 52,557 patients at 401 hospitals to date.

By prescription target for Paxlovid, the distribution is as follows: ▲home treatment 90,662 ▲living treatment centers 1,195 ▲infectious disease specialized hospitals 20,883 ▲others 1,043 doses.

By region, Paxlovid usage and stock are as follows: ▲Seoul 20,026 · 8,290 ▲Busan 12,445 · 4,441 ▲Daegu 7,067 · 2,243 ▲Incheon 6,733 · 3,112 ▲Gwangju 2,227 · 1,673 ▲Daejeon 2,889 · 917 ▲Ulsan 1,765 · 1,152 ▲Sejong 410 · 218 ▲Gyeonggi 24,529 · 8,140 ▲Gangwon 3,765 · 2,808 ▲Chungbuk 3,851 · 1,308 ▲Chungnam 3,641 · 1,415 ▲Jeonbuk 5,250 · 2,175 ▲Jeonnam 5,401 · 3,109 ▲Gyeongbuk 5,245 · 2,198 ▲Gyeongnam 6,617 · 3,374 ▲Jeju 879 · 815 doses. The central reserve stock is 1,559 doses.

Earlier, the government announced that 460,000 doses of oral antiviral treatments will be introduced by the end of April. Among the 460,000 doses, 20,000 doses of Lagevrio were pre-introduced on the 24th, and 44,000 doses of Paxlovid on the 25th. The remaining 80,000 doses of Lagevrio, scheduled for introduction in March with 100,000 doses, are expected to be introduced on the 27th.

Lagevrio prescriptions will be available from the 26th. The target patients are adults with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk of progressing to severe illness, such as the elderly and those with underlying conditions. However, Paxlovid is the preferred prescription, and Lagevrio can be prescribed only when Paxlovid is contraindicated due to concurrent use of prohibited drugs or when other treatments are difficult to use.

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