▲ Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum speaks at a COVID-19 response meeting in Seoul on Jan. 7, 2022. (Yonhap)

govt-virus treatment

COVID-19 antiviral pills to arrive in S. Korea next week: PM

SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- Antiviral pills to treat novel coronavirus cases will arrive in South Korea next week, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday.

"We will make sure they can be used swiftly in the medical field," Kim said during a COVID-19 response in Seoul.

The government has so far secured oral COVID-19 drugs for around 1 million patients.

The country signed a prepurchase contract with U.S. drug giant Pfizer Inc. for its Paxlovid pill for 762,000 patients. It also inked a deal with MSD, a subsidiary of U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co., for the prepurchase of oral coronavirus medications for 242,000 people.

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