According to the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and acting minister of health “Khaled Abdel Ghaffar”, Egypt officially approved their first COVID-19 antiviral oral pill “Molnupirvir”, becoming the first country in MENA and the fourth worldwide to provide the drug.

He said this comes following appropriate directions from the political leadership.

In this respect, the minister expressed thanks to the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) for the efforts which have been made to rev licensing to the five domestic companies to manufacture the pill “Molnupiravir” after passing the accurate lab testing that they approved the drug for emergency use.

Meanwhile, EDA President Tamer Essam said “Molnupirvir” has been certified by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the emergency use to treat patients of mild to moderate COVID-19.

Moreover, it will reduce the risk of hospitalisation due to COVID-19 by 50 percent.

Till now, local companies have produced 25,000 packs of this drug, he said, stating that the move comes in line with the Egyptian State’s efforts to remove the harmful effects of COVID-19.

However, they have a raw material left to manufacture 150,000 more packages of the pills.

Egypt is the foremost country in Africa and the Middle East, and the fourth country globally to provide anti-coronavirus drug “Molnupirvir”, said Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffa.

According to Merck, “these pills will cut the death rate by 30 percent among people.”

However, this pill is allowed only in hospitals to ensure it is taken under full medical supervision and by following the criteria et by the relevant scientist’s committees to ensure the non-stop healing follow-up, said EDA.

According to Health Ministry Spokesperson Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar, it is expected to receive Astra Zeneca’s Evusheld coronavirus antibody required to treat 50,000 patients.

Moreover, it is only effective in the virus’s early days, not in worsened conditions.

Some students also used these pills in their early days of virus and felt that this is effective by 89 percent when people used it in earlier days.

WHO said that Omicron is also not harmful if you have taken both vaccines.