The Israeli Ministry of Health has issued an emergency authorization for Paklovid, an oral antiviral drug developed by Pfizer to fight COVID-19. The government has already signed an agreement with the company and expects delivery of the drug in the coming days.
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The drug has mild side effects and has shown an almost 90% reduction in hospital admissions and deaths among coronavirus patients most prone to serious illness.
Patients will be able to take the drug at home to prevent the worst effects of the virus. Patients most at risk of complications from COVID-19 are instructed to take the pill within five days, starting three to five days after symptoms appear.
The tablets are expected to be just as effective against the new Omicron strain because they do not target the protein that contains most of the strain’s worrying mutations.
The ministry did not disclose how many doses of the drug Israel purchased and how many will arrive in the first batch.
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