Experts have pointed out that high-risk patients with COVID-19 should be first administered oral treatments such as Paxlovid or Lagevrio etc. before hospitalization.

In other words, if the prescription rate of oral COVID-19 treatments remains in the current 20% range, experts believe that the prescriptions will not be sufficient to prevent the increase in severe disease and deaths amid the resurgence of COVID-19.

Therefore, the experts believe that the prescription rate in high-risk COVID-19 patients needs to be increased to at least 30% and to at most 50%.

Gi-Seok Jeong, Director-General of Special Response of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarter