Dr Dirk Ramaekers, head of the taskforce “Covid Therapeutics“set up in December, hopes to make anti-coronavirus pills that can be taken at home available this month.”But it is not a miracle cure and certainly not an alternative to vaccination.“, he tells the newspaper on Wednesday Het Belang van Limbourg.

These drugs are intended for patients at risk. “Predictable problems in the older population with co-morbidities, those 40 to 50 years old, who end up in hospitals“, he explains.

It requires further study

“The pills constitute an additional line of protection, but only at a later stage, when people are already infected and have become ill. There is enough evidence to say that these drugs are dispensed and prevent some patients from going to the hospital, but we do not know exactly how effective they are and in some individuals. This requires further study.“

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The anti-Covid pills Lagevrio (from MSD) and Paxlovid (from Pfizer) can also be taken at home, on prescription from the general practitioner. “We have ordered 10,000 treatments from MSD and are in the final stages of negotiations with Pfizer», Adds Dirk Ramaekers.