Zambia to start administering oral antiviral COVID-19 pills

Lusaka [Zambia], July 8 (ANI/Xinhua): Zambia will soon start administering Paxlovid, an oral antiviral pill, to people at risk of developing severe COVID-19 disease, its health ministry said on Friday.
Sylvia Masebo, the Minister of Health, said the ministry was working with other partners to start administering the oral pills following a steady rise in cases in order to prevent severe COVID-19 , especially on people with underlying conditions such as diabetes, sugar disease, high blood pressure, and HIV/AIDS, among others.
The minister further directed health facilities to start giving the injectable drug, Remdesivir, which was currently available in the country and limits the multiplication of the virus that caused COVID-19.
"I need to assure the nation that this drug is available in the country and is approved for use by the WHO (World Health Organization). It is a drug we should use to avoid any individuals becoming severely ill," she told reporters during a COVID-19 update press briefing.
According to her, over 60 percent of people admitted to COVID-19 isolation facilities have underlying conditions and are not vaccinated, a situation that has forced the ministry to embark on early treatment.
Zambia's cumulative COVID-19 cases now stand at 326,794 following 143 new cases in the past 24 hours.
A total of 4,008 deaths have been recorded while 321,707 people have recovered since the first case was recorded in the country in March 2020. (ANI/Xinhua)