Vietnam Ministry Recommends Using Molnupiravir with Doctors’ Prescriptions

On January 11, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MoH) recommended using the antiviral drug Molnupiravir for COVID-19 patients only per doctors’ prescriptions, local media reported. The health ministry made the recommendation when the rising number of drug users without prescriptions and some media reported the removal of this drug out of the COVID-19 treatment methods in India. The Vietnamese ministry quoted some outlets as pointing out that the Indian Council of Medical Research, which is responsible for building COVID-19 treatment regimens in India, has yet to add the drug into the coronavirus treatment in India, due to concerns over its side-effects, so the agency did not remove the drug out of any lists. The ministry has issued a recommendation against the use of Molnupiravir in pregnant and breastfeeding women and people aged under 18 and a conditional recommendation of the drug for men based on the approval of this drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The health ministry has so far provided 300,000 doses of Molnupiravir for 51 localities across the country for treating asymptomatic coronavirus patients at home since it piloted the use of this drug in Ho Chi Minh City in August 2021. Medium-term results showed that this drug had been effective in reducing viral loads and decreasing treatment time in 22 localities. Together with Molnupiravir, the health ministry has inserted favipiravir, remdesivir into Vietnam’s COVID-19 treatment, but has yet to license them for commercial uses, the local VnExpress newspaper highlighted. (VnEconomy, Dan Tri, VietnamNet, VietnamNet 1)