TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan has signed a contract with Pfizer to purchase 700,000 courses of its COVID treatment Paxlovid as the country experiences a spike in Omicron cases.

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Monday (April 11) announced that it had signed a purchase contract with Pfizer for 700,000 courses of Paxlovid the previous day.

The CECC pointed out the convenience of using oral medications compared to injections and the fact that they meet the needs of the current epidemic prevention model of separating severe from mild cases, allowing the latter to undergo treatment at home. Therefore, it has purchased enough courses of Paxlovid for 3% of the population.

The first half of the courses, or 350,000, are to arrive before the end of the second quarter, while the other half will come through an open contract.

As for the previous purchase of 20,000 courses of Paxlovid, 15,200 have not yet arrived. The government is coordinating with the supplier to deliver the medication in the near future.

The CECC emphasized the efficacy and safety of Paxlovid have been confirmed through animal experiments and randomized clinical trials. Emergency use authorization has been provided by the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In January, Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration also approved the import of the drug for use within five days of onset to reduce the risk of severe infection and need for hospitalization.