Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysia has struck a deal with US drug makerMerck & Co to buy 150,000 courses of its experimental antiviral pill, theMinistry of Health (MoH) said on October 7, joining other Asian countries in arush to secure supplies.

Speaking at the National Assembly session, Health Minister KhairyJamaluddin said that under the agreement, the government has agreed to purchase 150,000 dosesof Molnupiravir, in preparation for COVID-19 to become an “endemicdisease”.

Based on studies conducted by Merck Sharp & Dohme, the use of Molnupiravircan reduce hospitalisation rates by up to 50 percent. In addition, this drugis also effective against variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, such as Gamma,Delta and Mu.

The Malaysian Ministry of Health has been and will continue tomonitor cutting-edge treatments for COVID-19 patients around the world toensure that Malaysia is not left behind in accessing best treatment forpeople.

Referring to the booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, Khairy statedthat the government will not force people to get this injection. However, herecommended that high-risk groups such as the elderly, immunocompromisedpeople and frontline health workers get a booster shot from six months afterthey complete the vaccination. Malaysia has started deploying the boostershot from October 1 in Sarawak state.

Malaysia has recorded nearly 2.3 million COVID-19 infections, thethird highest in Southeast Asia, but gradually lifted movement restrictionsin recent weeks as the number of new cases declined amid a ramped-upvaccination programme.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's Food and Drug Administration (BPOM)has issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for China's Zifivax vaccine.

BPOM head Penny K Lukito said the EUA was issued after the National AdvisoryCommittee on Immunization (ITAGI) conducted a joint assessment of the qualityof this vaccine.

Specifically, the protective efficacy of the Zifivax vaccine was up to 81.71percent one week after completing the vaccine course and 81.4 percent after14 days of the third dose. The protective efficacy of the vaccine in subjectsaged 18-59 years was 81.5 percent and 87.6 percent for people aged over 60years.

Up to now, BPOM has granted EUA for 10 COVID-19 vaccines from Sinovac,AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Sinopharm, Moderna, Sputnik V, Janssen, Convidecia, BioFarma COVID-19 and Zivifax./.