{"id":40209,"date":"2022-02-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southafricajournal.com\/?guid=394caa81c95e89de8d3baae8fc055ad3"},"modified":"2022-02-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-02-19T00:00:00","slug":"covid-19-south-african-regulator-approves-mercks-anti-covid-pill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southafricajournal.com\/covid-19-south-african-regulator-approves-mercks-anti-covid-pill\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19: South African regulator approves Merck’s anti-Covid pill"},"content":{"rendered":"
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa\u2019s health products regulator said it had approved the use of Merck\u2019s Covid-19 pill for high-risk adults.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The South African Health Product Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) said in a statement it has \u201cauthorised, with conditions, the importation of molnupiravir\u201d for an initial period of six months.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The oral treatment is taken within five days of symptom onset and has been shown in a pre-Omicron trial to reduce Covid hospitalisations and deaths by 30 percent among at-risk people.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe authorisation of molnupiravir for compassionate use offers further therapy in the fight against Covid-19,\u201d said the regulator\u2019s CEO, Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
With more than 3.6 million diagnosed infections and over 96,000 deaths, South Africa\u2019s pandemic toll is the highest on the continent.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Source: Nam News Network<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa\u2019s health products regulator said it had approved the use of Merck\u2019s Covid-19 pill for high-risk adults. The South African Health Product Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) said in a statement it has \u201cauthorised, with conditions,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n