Philippines approves Merck's Covid-19 pill for at-risk patients

pills

MANILA (Reuters): The Philippines on Thursday (Dec 23) approved emergency use of Merck & Co's Covid-19 treatment pill for adult patients at risk of developing severe illness as it tries to boost the country's arsenal of drugs to fight new variants.

It also approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11 so the vaccine, which will be administered in a paediatric formulation, could be administered once it becomes available, its Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chief said.