Indonesia to get Merck, Pfizer Covid-19 antiviral pills, anticipates Omicron surge at end of January

Indonesia will receive two types of antiviral pills, paxlovid (above) made by Pfizer and molnupiravir by Merck. - PFIZER/AFP

JAKARTA (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): Indonesia is set to receive its first shipment of two types of Covid-19 antiviral pills - molnupiravir made by Merck and paxlovid by Pfizer - next month (January), said Health Minister Budi Sadikin, as the country intensifies efforts to curb the spread of the infectious Omicron variant.

The government has filed a request to BPOM, the Indonesian equivalent of the United States Food and Drug Administration, to issue emergency-use approval for these two pills, slated to be released in the market next month.