PETALING JAYA: A total of 110,000 patients will receive the first batch of Pfizer's oral antiviral drug Paxlovid, when it arrives in two weeks, says says Khairy Jamaluddin.

       The Health Minister said the first phase of the procurement would be given to high-risk individuals.

       “The Paxlovid antivirals from Pfizer are set to arrive later this month, with the agreement finalised with the drugmaker last month.

       "If we find the use of the drug to be as effective as (stated in) the information we have received, we will increase the purchase order for Paxlovid.

       "There are two more (drugs) that we will buy (namely) Molnupiravir, and another from AstraZeneca, but this has not been finalised," he told reporters after launching the National Kidney Foundation's 16th Annual Dialysis Conference here Saturday (March 5).

       Explaining further, Khairy said this was in addition to the use of vaccines in combating the pandemic, especially among high-risk individuals.

       “We have also consulted physicians to create the best clinical care pathways to treat those admitted with Covid-19 while reducing the mortality rate,” he said,

       “This has allowed us to push forward with recovery and shift the focus of public healthcare to non-Covid-19 cases as well,” he said.

       Meanwhile, in his speech earlier, Khairy suggested a new feature in the MySejahtera application which would allow the public to pledge to become organ donors.