Govt to provide private doctors with oral Covid drugs

The Government late on Saturday announced that it would gradually provide free Covid-19 oral drugs, namely Paxlovid and Molnupiravir, to private doctors with a view to enabling them to prescribe these two drugs to suitable Covid-19 patients.

“Our top priority now is not only to suppress the epidemic and reduce infection, but also to strengthen the protection for the elderly and children, and to reduce the numbers of severe cases and deaths caused by the epidemic. As the guardians of Hong Kong’s public health and the well-being of our citizens, all healthcare professionals in Hong Kong have an obligatory duty to stand at the forefront of the fight against the epidemic and to mobilise all available manpower to support various anti-epidemic measures.

In addition to enlisting support from private hospitals and private doctors in the fight against the epidemic in different roles earlier, we also call upon private doctors to help treat the patients, especially high-risk ones, to reduce the risk of deterioration of their clinical conditions,” a spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau said.

At present, the Hospital Authority (HA) prescribes the two Covid-19 oral drugs Paxlovid and Molnupiravir to patients at various facilities, including HA hospitals, community treatment facilities, designated clinics and residential care homes for the elderly. The nursing team from the Patient Support Call Centre of the HA also proactively contacts patients from high-risk groups for prescription of the oral drugs at designated clinics.

The government statement added that private doctors should accord priority to support and treat high-risk patients as far as practicable, including those aged 60 or above, children aged 5 or below, women at 28 or more weeks of pregnancy, and immunocompromised patients such as organ transplant recipients and those with immune system disorders or long-term use of immunosuppressive drugs. It also said that private doctors should not charge patients any fee for the Covid-19 oral drugs.