The recurrence of COVID-19 has sparked interest in COVID-19 drugs. After the pandemic turned into an endemic, the government set a budget of KRW 179.8 billion for COVID-19 drugs this year, which was a 53.2% cut from last year, and the number of COVID-19 drugs introduced in Q1 and Q2 of this year was 179,000, half of the 341,000 that the government procured during the same period last year.

The government claimed that the budget cut was due to preparations for the reimbursement of COVID-19 treatments, but the government ultimately set aside KRW 326.8 billion in emergency reserves to purchase an additional 262,000 doses of treatment after failing to predict the resurgence of COVID-19. The amount of the r