Egypt will allow Merck’s COVID-19 drug Molnupiravir – which received emergency use authorization by the country's drug regulator in January – to be sold at government-affiliated pharmacies, acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar announced on Wednesday.
The country will also make COVID-19 rapid antigen testing kits available for the public at pharmacies for first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, the minister told a cabinet meeting.
In January, the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) issued an emergency use authorization for Merck’s COVID-19 drug Molnupiravir, which can cut hospitalizations and deaths by 30 percent among people at high risk of COVID-19.
The EDA has allowed five national companies to manufacture the oral antiviral as a first stage.
Abdel-Ghaffar said the new decisions are part of the ministry's new regulations to combat the coronavirus based on the pandemic’s situation globally and domestically.
This also includes allowing booster shots for people above the age of 65 after three months – instead of six months – of receiving the second shot of the vaccine.
Egypt has already provided public hospitals with Pfizer’s Paxlovid pills and AstraZeneca’s Evusheld coronavirus antibody, the minister said, adding that the drugs have been distributed to oncology units as a first stage and are set to be distributed to dialysis units soon.
The anti-COVID regulations also include the launch of the visit Egypt application, which allows incoming travelers to upload PCR test and vaccination certificates online and assigns them a QR code to be shown at the country's airports in order to pass without waiting in long lines.
Source: Al-Ahram Online
