COVID-19 patients in China are still able to apply for reimbursements for Paxlovid, a COVID-19 treatment medicine from Pfizer, as of March 31, an official said on Wednesday.
Huang Xinyu, an official of the National Healthcare Security Administration, made the remarks at a press conference in response to public concerns over medication supplies, as Paxlovid was not added to China's medical insurance catalog in Pfizer's latest talks with the country's healthcare authorities.
An official document has renewed an ad hoc reimbursement policy for COVID-19 medicines that are not on the catalog, Huang said.
Ever since the epidemic began in 2020, China has made such medicines reimbursable under its medical insurance plan, as a temporary measure to ensure payments for treatment.
Huang also noted that there are more than 600 medications used to treat COVID-19 in the current medical insurance catalog, which means those who test positive have multiple options.
Authorities will continue monitoring and regulating the prices of COVID-19 medications to ease the financial burden on patients, Huang said.
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