Pfizer ships 6 mn courses of COVID pill to over 26 countries

US,GERMNY:Pfizer Inc said on Monday it made 6 million courses of its antiviral COVID-19 pill Paxlovid in the first quarter, hitting a target set by Chief Executive Albert Bourla. Pfizer spokesperson Sharon Castillo said in an email that the company has shipped the pills to over 26 countries so far. Bourla has said the company expects to produce at least 120 million courses of the drug this year, with 30 million of those courses coming in the first half.

The U.S. Government has bought 20 million of those courses, with the first 10 million expected to be delivered by the end of June. Around 1.4 million courses have been distributed in the United States so far.

Paxlovid is expected to be an important tool in the fight against COVID-19 after it reduced hospitalizations in high-risk patients by around 90% in a clinical trial. The results were significantly better than those for Merck & Co’s rival antiviral pill molnupiravir in its clinical trial.

Meanwhile, Germany will no longer impose compulsory quarantines on people infected with the coronavirus from May 1, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said Monday (April 4). Isolation remains “strongly recommended”, said Lauterbach, but he added that it will from next month be done “on a voluntary basis”.

Infection numbers in Germany remain high, but with most cases reported to be mild, hospitals have not been overwhelmed. As a result, Europe’s biggest economy has relaxed coronavirus curbs, lifting a requirement to wear masks in shops or schools.

– INDIAN EXPRESS, THE STRAITS TIMES