Hong Kong’s Private Doctors Can Now Order COVID-19 Oral Drugs Online

Private doctors in Hong Kong who have registered under the Electronic Health Record Sharing System (eHRSS) can now order oral antiviral drugs Paxlovid and mulnopiravir for their COVID-19 patients following the Department of Health's go-ahead yesterday.

The government announced back on April 2 that it would provide free COVID-19 oral drugs to private doctors in a bid to lessen the risk of deterioration of their COVID-19 patients, as per a government press release on April 11.

Private doctors who wish to request for the drugs can order via eHRSS. Their order will then be delivered to the selected practice address they registered on the platform.

"The distributor will process the requests as far as possible on the following working day for those made before 4 PM during weekdays," the government said. "A maximum of 10 standard courses of treatments for each antiviral is allowed on each order request. Allocation of the antivirals will be subject to availability and usage of the drugs under the doctor's account."

Merck's mulnopiravir has been issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) by the United States' Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 23, 2021 to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults. Pfizer's Paxlovid was also authorized for emergency use by the FDA a day earlier on Dec. 22, 2021 for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients. Paxlovid is a combination of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir tablets.