Tân Bình District officials in HCM City provide drugs and health supplements to a COVID-19 patient being treated at home in August. The city will provide the antiviral drug Favipiravir to COVID patients in place of the usual Molnupiravir because the city is running out of the latter. – Photo baotintuc.vn

HCM CITY – HCM City will provide the antiviral drug Favipiravir to COVID-19 patients for treatment in place of Molnupiravir since stock of the latter is running low across the city.

HCM City’s Department of Health is set to receive 120,000 pills of Favipiravir.

Nguyễn Thị Huỳnh Mai, chief of office at the department, said that medical stations currently providing Molnupiravir to patients can switch to Favipiravir.

The department is also working with the HCM City Oriental Traditional Medicine Association to provide functional foods to boost patients’ health.

Molnupiravir is one of the drugs provided to some COVID-19 patients at home, but recently many patients have not been able to access the drug since many medical stations have run out of it.

The department has asked the Ministry of Health for more Molnupiravir.

HCM City continues to be Việt Nam’s COVID epicentre at over 462,000 cases as of November 25.

While the average number of new cases during the first week of November was 926, the number rose to 1,378 from November 18 – 25.

HCM City reopened on October 1 after months of strict pandemic preventive measures, lifting many restrictions on travel and outdoor activities.

Around 88.8 per cent of people aged 18 and over in the city have been fully vaccinated. Over 238,000 children aged 12 – 17 have received their second shots. – VNS