China’s NMPA has conditionally approved Pfizer’s Covid-19 drug Paxlovid, making it the first oral pill specifically developed to treat the disease cleared in the country. The drug was approved for the treatment of adults with mild to moderate COVID-19 and a high risk of progression to severe disease. This includes the elderly, and people with chronic kidney issues, diabetes, cardiovascular, and chronic lung disease. Patients should strictly follow the drug instructions under the guidance of physicians and pay close attention to the information of interaction with other drugs listed in the instructions during use.
Over the past year, the number of new coronavirus cases in China has remained below 250 a day, and sometimes even less than 10. Compared with other countries, this number is very small in China, a country of 1.4 billion people. The Chinese government has adopted a “dynamic zero-out” policy and quarantined most foreign visitors for several weeks.
China has yet to approve any COVID-19 vaccines developed by foreign pharmaceutical companies. As of February 7, China had vaccinated 87.1 percent of the country’s population using several homegrown vaccines.