Spain will receive next Monday the first 11,900 treatments of paxlovidthe antiviral pfizer intended for patients with mild symptoms but who may develop severe covid, out of the total of 344 thousand that it acquired from the pharmaceutical company for this year.
The information was explained by the Minister of Health, Carolina Dariasin statements to Efe after signing with the general manager of Pfizer in Spain, Sérgio Rodriguesthe drug purchase agreement, which will arrive in the coming weeks, reaching 50,000 this quarter.
“It has been difficult to do so, but thanks to the collaboration of Pfizer and the personnel involved in this and other ministries, it was possible to sign this agreement”, highlighted the minister.
The treatment, which consists of three pillswill be dispensed under medical prescription and “strict criteria that have already been agreed upon” by specialists such as immunocompromised patients or cystic fibrosis patients.
That its administration is oral “represents a very important advance” in relation to others, Darias celebrated before insisting that it is “a drug that will be added effectively against covid”.
“This agreement means providing one more resource to fight the pandemic”, valued Sergio Rodríguez for his part, who highlighted the pharmaceutical company’s commitment to “help when necessary” in the fight against covid.
Second treatment available against covid in Spain
Pfizer’s antiviral against covid, whose purchase was announced by the prime minister, Pedro Sanchezin early January, has the approval of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for prevent the most serious cases, especially in adult patients who do not need supplemental oxygen but are at increased risk of disease progression to severity.
The company’s tests showed that its antiviral reduced the risk of hospitalization by up to 89%
In Spain, it has conditional authorization for its administration, although it is each community that establishes how it will be released, according to sources from Efe de Saúde.
The company’s tests showed that its antiviral reduced the risk of hospitalization by up to 89% of patients with covid-19 and also death when administered in the days immediately after the diagnosis of the disease and the appearance of the first symptoms.
This is the second treatment available against covid in Spain: in February the first doses of evusheld from astraZenecawhich acts as a prophylaxis expressed in immunosuppressed people which, despite being vaccinated against covid, do not generate antibodies to achieve an adequate defense against the coronavirus.
