File Photo: Covid-19 drug Molnupiravir .AFP
In media statements to a TV show on Al-Hadth TV channel, Tag El-Din said that there were some COVID-19 cases that needed Molnupiravir while other cases did not need it.
The release of Molnipiravir comes as Egypt has witnessed an increase in coronavirus cases over the past few weeks.
Egypt has entered the sixth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an average of 38 new cases and four to five fatalities per day, 97 percent of which are the Omicron variant.
According to the presidential health adviser, more than 90 percent of current cases have been simple while 99 percent have not required hospitalisation.
Head of the Coronavirus Committee at the Health Ministry Hossam Hosny said in media statements that a course of Molnupiravir treatment involves one package of 40 pills taken over a period of five days..
In media statements earlier Tuesday, Health Ministry Spokesperson Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar stated that Molnupiravir has been available in Egypt since January for free in hospitals.
In January, the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) issued an emergency use authorisation for the drug, developed by Merck, which can cut hospitalisations and deaths by 30 percent among people at high risk from COVID-19.
Egypt is the first country in Africa and the Middle East, and the fourth globally to provide the oral antiviral.
The pill received authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December 2021.
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