The move, which aims to make Covid-19 treatment and medicine more easily and widely available, will include four antiviral drugs approved by Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA), namely Favipiravir, Remdesivir, Molnupiravir and Paxlovid. “From September 1, people will still not be allowed to buy Covid-19 antiviral drugs themselves,” said Public Health deputy permanent secretary Dr Thongchai Kirattihatthayakorn on Tuesday. Medical Services Department director-general Dr Somsak Akkasilp said antiviral drugs are approved by the FDA for use in emergency situations, and long-term side effects have yet to be thoroughly studied. “People should therefore be careful and use these drugs only under doctor’s orders, especially among ‘rebound’ patients who had recovered from Covid-19 and then got reinfected despite having taken antiviral drugs,” he added. Clicknic CEO Neil Nilwichian insisted that patients would be diagnosed by 40 to 50 doctors via the app to prevent the antiviral drug from being misused or wrongly prescribed.
