20 Million Doses Of Antiviral Drugs Provided By The Government, Minister Of Health: Don't Buy Then Hoard, Pity Others

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin/DOK Ministry of Health

JAKARTA - The government has prepared 20 million doses of antiviral drugs to deal with the surge in positive cases of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant. There are also types of drugs provided by the government are Avigan or Favipiravir and Molnupiravir.

Health Minister, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, said tens of millions of doses of this drug would not be available haphazardly. All who want to buy, he said, must include a doctor's prescription.

"If you have an antiviral drug, you have to have a prescription, so you can't buy it yourself and you shouldn't. Don't buy it and store it at home, it's a shame that other people can't get it", Budi said in a press conference broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube, Monday, January 31.

To get the prescription, continued Budi, people exposed to COVID-19 must first be examined by a doctor directly at a health facility or via telemedicine.

Minister of Health Budi said these drugs are also only given to people who experience symptoms. "If there are no symptoms, it is enough to take vitamins", said the former Deputy Minister of SOEs.

"If there are symptoms, you can use anti-hot drugs and through telemedicine, you can also buy antivirals", added Budi.

The Minister of Health also asked the public not to worry about the presence of this antiviral drug. He said the number of doses the government had to distribute was quite a lot.

"Our drugs are ready for more than 20 million doses of antiviral drugs", he said.

"This must be with a doctor's prescription and can be purchased at pharmacies or telemedicine", concluded Budi.