TAIPEI, Taiwan — China’s wellness attraction authorities declined to see Pfizer’s COVID-19 attraction cause successful a nationalist reimbursement database that would person allowed patients to get it astatine a cheaper terms passim the country, saying it was excessively expensive.
Paxlovid, an oral medicine developed by New York-based drugmaker Pfizer, has been wide sought aft successful China since the state began phasing retired its “zero-COVID” restrictions and a surge of infections started sweeping done the country. Although it is expected to beryllium prescribed by aesculapian professionals, that hasn’t stopped radical scrambling to acquisition it connected their ain done immoderate means astatine their disposal — including buying generic Indian versions of the cause done the internet, according to section media reports.
Health attraction policymakers tin leverage bulk purchases to little prices successful negotiations with pharmaceutical companies that, successful turn, tin nett a dependable root of revenue. A cause indispensable beryllium included connected the reimbursement database to beryllium covered by the nationalist security scheme. China volition see 2 different COVID-19 drugs: the Chinese-made antiviral Azvudine and the Chinese herbal blend medicine Qingfei Paidu Granules, said the National Healthcare Security Administration successful a connection Sunday.
Paxlovid volition inactive beryllium disposable for usage for those patients who tin spend it. Paxlovid and Azvudine are medicine drugs utilized to forestall mild COVID-19 cases from becoming much severe.
While the Chinese authorities has blocked the import of non-Chinese-made vaccines similar the Pfizer mRNA shot, relying connected domestically made vaccines, it nevertheless approved the company’s COVID-19 cause for import successful February 2022.
The state is grappling with a large COVID-19 wave, arsenic the microorganism has swept done large cities similar Beijing and Chengdu. Sunday marked the archetypal time successful astir 3 years that visitors would nary longer person to quarantine erstwhile traveling into China.
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