Beijing to distribute Paxlovid to community health service centers

(ECNS) -- Beijing will distribute Paxlovid, Pfizer’s COVID antiviral drug, to community health service centers in the upcoming days. After training, the community doctors will give instructions on medicine use to residents infected with COVID-19.

"We have received the notice from officials, but it is not clear when the drugs will arrive," an insider from the Zhanlanlu community health service center of Beijing's Xicheng district told ECNS.

China Meheco Group Co., Ltd signed an agreement on Dec.14 with Pfizer to import and distribute Paxlovid on the mainland, the company said in a filing with the Shanghai Stocks Exchange. The agreement is effective immediately and expires on Nov. 30, 2023, the statement said. The medicine was reported to be sold online and soon removed from shelves.

Paxlovid is one of the two oral medicines for COVID-19 treatment having been approved in China, and the other is Azvudine, developed by China's Genuine Biotech.