Pfizer's oral Covid drug Paxlovid has been approved for use in China.
Key takeaways:
- Covid-19, a drug developed by Pfizer, is an oral medication. On Saturday, Paxlovid was given conditional approval in China to treat adults with mild to moderate infection but a high risk of developing severe disease.
- The authorization sparked speculation about whether China might soon open its borders or relax its strict pandemic-fighting policies as a result of the approval.
- The most effective way to prevent people from becoming infected and developing serious illnesses is through vaccination.
Pfizer's Covid-19 oral drug Paxlovid received conditional approval in China on Saturday to treat adults with mild - to - moderate infection but a high risk of developing severe disease.
According to state media reports, it is the first anti-coronavirus oral drug specifically developed to treat viral infection approved in China.
The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), China's top medical regulator, said in a statement that while the drug has been authorized to treat adults with underlying conditions, more research is needed.
According to the NMPA announcement on Saturday, the drug can be used by those with underlying situations such as chronic kidney disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic lung disease.
"This is a significant step forward in our fight against Covid-19," a Pfizer representative told Reuters in a statement.
The approval sparked speculation about whether China would soon open its borders or relax its strict pandemic-fighting policies.
Despite cluster outbreaks, the virus first appeared in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and has since been largely contained in the country.
The drug will "...complement China's already successful medical treatment methods by providing a needed shot for those with underlying diseases," according to Wang Guangfa, a respiratory expert at Peking University First Hospital.
"It will aid in the treatment of patients, but it will not prevent people from becoming infected with the virus." It, like the vaccines, is only one part of the Covid-19 containing system," according to the report.
Wang believes that now is not the time for China to open up to the rest of the world because the pandemic is still raging elsewhere.
Vaccination is the most effective way to keep people from becoming infected and developing serious illnesses.
According to China's national health commission (NHC), more than 3 billion Covid-19 vaccines have been administered to date, fully vaccinating most of the country's population.
The Chinese government's "dynamic zero cases" strategy for containing the disease's spread is still in place, with "four-early" measures such as early detection, early reporting, early quarantine, and early treatment Covid-19 cases being advocated.