Malaysia has received its first shipment of Pfizer’s Paxlovid pills today, making it the first oral antiviral therapy available in Malaysia for treating Covid-19.
The 48,000 boxes were delivered to Pharmaniaga Logistic Sdn Bhd today, according to Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
“The use of Paxlovid is another weapon in the arsenal against Covid-19, namely an antiviral for treating Covid-19.
“It can be administered after testing positive and within five days of the start of symptoms for optimum efficacy,” he said in a Facebook post today.
The pill is recommended for Covid-19 patients above 18 years old who may not need oxygen therapy yet but are at high risk of developing severe Covid-19 symptoms later.
He also emphasised the drug is not a substitute for vaccination or public health measures for preventing Covid-19.
When contacted, Noor Hisham confirmed the shipment is Malaysia's first delivery of the drug, even though Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Malaysia was expecting the delivery within two weeks from March 5.
Noor Hisham also told Malaysiakini the 48,000 boxes delivered represents 45.8 percent of Malaysia’s order of 104,700 boxes of the drug.
It is understood each box contains one patient course of the drug, totalling 30 tablets meant to be taken twice a day for five days.
Pfizer previously said the course can reduce hospitalisation and deaths among high-risk Covid-19 patients by around 89 percent, and retains its effectiveness against the Omicron variant.
Three tablets, twice a day
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry issued infographics explaining the purpose of the drug and how it should be taken.
It said patients should take one white (ritonavir) tablet and two pink (nirmatrelvir) tablets at a time, twice a day, for five days. It should be swallowed whole at the same time, not chewed.
Before taking the medication, patients should inform their doctor or pharmacist if they have any allergies; have any illness especially liver or kidney diseases; have taken any medication such as lovastatin, alfuzosin or phenytoin; are pregnant or planning pregnancy; or are nursing.
Expected side effects include muscle pain, changes to the sensation of taste, vomiting, diarrhoea, and high blood pressure.
Side effects can be reported through the Consumers Reporting Side Effects to Medicines (Conserf) form available on the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency’s website.
If patients accidentally skip a dose, they should take the medicine as soon as they remember.
This is unless more than eight hours have passed since the last dose was scheduled, in which case the patient should disregard it and take the next scheduled dose as usual.
Patients are specifically warned not to double their dosage to make up for a missed dose.
To protect the environment, surplus doses should be returned to the pharmacy that supplied the medication, not disposed through sewers or alongside household waste.
The Drug Control Authority approved Paxlovid as a Covid-19 treatment on March 3.
Apart from Paxlovid, it also approved another antiviral pill molnupiravir on April 7 for treating Covid-19. However, Malaysia has yet to receive any of the latter except for clinical trials before the drug was approved. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.