The current Covid wave has seen drug stores stripped of supplies, as people snap up cold and fever treatments. The person said they had access to stocks of Paxlovid -- a Beijing-approved Covid treatment developed by US drug giant Pfizer -- and could mail some from the semi-autonomous city into mainland China. Despite those risks, the black market remains a common last resort for people like Xiao, whose elderly grandfather fell ill in December. They included a variant of Paxlovid sold under the brand name Paxista, and two generics for pharmaceutical giant Merck's treatment called Movfor and Molaz. Beijing gave conditional emergency approval last week to Merck's antiviral -- sold internationally as Lagevrio -- for use on vulnerable adults with Covid.
