PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry has agreed to purchase 150,000 antiviral drug Molnupiravir complete treatment packages (patient courses) to treat Covid-19 patients.
Its minister Khairy Jamaluddin (pix) signed a letter of undertaking to purchase the drug developed by Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD).
He said this part of the government plan to begin the transition to the endemic phase of living with the Covid-19 virus.
âWe are adding new innovative treatment to fight Covid-19. Vaccines will still be needed because the function of the vaccine is to reduce infection and prevent from getting more severe infection,â he said in a statement today.
Khairy said study conducted by MSD found that Molnupiravir reduced ward admission rate by 50%.
He added that it was effective on more potent variants of the Covid-19 get such as gamma, delta and mu.
He pointed out Molnupiravir cannot prevent infection and it is only beneficial for those who are already infected with Covid-19.
Khairy said both vaccines and antiviral drugs are needed to fight Covid and lower the burden of the disease.
