Pfizer’s Covid-19 treatment pill Paxlovid will be used at private hospitals in Malaysia to protect patients from severe illness caused by Covid-19.

This comes nearly two months after Paxlovid was first introduced for Covid-19 treatment at public health facilities on April 15. Paxlovid is used to treat Covid adult patients in Categories Two and Three who do not require oxygen therapy but have medical conditions, such as cancer and diabetes, that qualify them as high risk.

Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) president Dr Kuljit Singh, in a statement today, said the medication will be supplied free to private hospitals based on the needs of the Ministry of Health (MOH).
“Private specialists will follow the guidelines given by the MOH on the prescription of these medications. There will be no charge on the antivirals except for consultation fees and other hospital charges.

“We are able to treat Covid more effectively and patients seeking treatment for Covid in private hospitals will have better recovery and lessen the probability of getting into Stages Four and Five,” Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) president Dr Kuljit Singh said in a statement today.

A full course constitutes three Paxlovid pills twice a day for five days. Patients eligible for the treatment are required to take Paxlovid within five days of developing symptoms.

A trial conducted by Pfizer last year showed that Paxlovid can reduce the risk of Covid-19 hospitalisation and death by 89 per cent. Public health officials however, stressed that the pills are not replacements for Covid vaccinations.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, in a statement earlier today, announced the expansion of Paxlovid use in private hospitals with the intent of making Covid treatment more accessible to the public, especially high-risk groups such as the elderly, those with comorbidities, and those who are unvaccinated.

As of June 5, 2022, a total of 1,364 patients have received Paxlovid treatment and have recovered fully with no severe side effects reported. “This treatment has proven to be safe and effective and can reduce the severe effects of infection and mortality of Covid-19 patients,” Khairy said.

Khairy also announced that the monoclonal antibodies tixagevimab and cilgavimab (Evusheld), produced by AstraZeneca, will soon be used to prevent Covid-19 in individuals who may not respond well to vaccination.

The National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) conditionally approved AstraZeneca’s antibody cocktail on May 12 in those aged 12 years and older weighing at least 40kg who may not obtain a sufficient immune response to Covid-19 vaccination, or who are not recommended for inoculation.

Evusheld is meant to prevent Covid-19 infection in individuals before potential exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19. The NPRA approved Evusheld dosage of 100mg/ml each for tixagevimab and cilgavimab.

Khairy said Evusheld will only be made available at government hospitals for now and it will be used as a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for people who have not been infected with Covid-19 but are at high risk of becoming infected.

The assessment of the patient’s eligibility to receive this antibody drug will be done by the treating physician and the patient selection criteria are as follows:

Aged 12 years and above;
Weighing more than 40kg; and
Belong in the moderate to severe immunocompromised groups (this takes into account the immune response of this group to Covid-19 vaccination which is unlikely to reach a satisfactory level of immunity; or
Individuals who are unable to take the vaccine completely due to medical reasons or have a history of severe reactions to the Covid-19 vaccine

The method of administration of antibodies is through two separate intramuscular injections of two types of drugs, namely tixagevimab and cilgavimab, given consecutively.

For immunocompromised patients who are vaccinated against Covid-19, Evusheld should be given at least two weeks after vaccination.

Source: Paxlovid Now Available For Free In Private Hospitals

The antiviral drug Paxlovid will be available for free to Covid-19 patients at private health facilities, says the Health Minister.

Khairy Jamaluddin said the drug has been available at these facilities since Monday, and his ministry had distributed the circulars and guidelines on the expansion and use of the drug to private healthcare on June 16.
“The provision of the drug to patients at private health facilities is free. However, patients are still subject to consultation charges and other related charges determined by the private health facility,” he added.

Paxlovid is the first oral antiviral drug available in Malaysia that treats Covid-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms or Categories 2 and 3.

Khairy said priority would be given to the high-risk group of Covid-19 patients.

The use of the antiviral drug started in health facilities under the ministry on April 15.

Meanwhile, Khairy also said 107,844 individuals aged 12 and above had received their second Covid-19 booster jab as of Monday.
He added that 57,834 out of the total were individuals aged 60 and above.
“We encourage senior citizens and individuals with chronic conditions to get the second booster. To date, we have not received any reports on severe side effects following the second booster shot,” he told a media conference after launching the ministry’s Hospital Directors Conference at a hotel here.


Covid-19 cases will fluctuate, and a potential new infection wave might emerge in the next few months, although the current situation is under control, said Khairy.
“Perhaps we can expect a new wave within the next two and three months, but the magnitude is still unknown.
“Based on epidemiological developments in other countries, a new wave could be ahead,” he added, encouraging high-risk individuals to be inoculated with the fourth Covid-19 vaccine shot.

Commenting on the rebooted immunisation programme for kids (PICKids), the minister said the decision was taken as the ministry found that there were children who had not received information on the previous immunisation programme.

“As PICKids was announced to be ending for those children above five years old, the ministry realised that there are pockets of the population which had not received information on Covid-19 vaccines.
“The ministry is now helping these groups get access to Covid-19 vaccination at its health clinics,” he added.

Khairy said that 397 kids were inoculated on the first day of the five-day campaign, of whom 150 had just turned five.
On Sunday, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali announced PICKids would reopen from Monday until Friday in conjunction with the 2022 National Immunisation Week.

Source: Free Paxlovid for patients