THE Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Health, will be moving ahead with the procurement of a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved COVID-19 medication for children called Paxlovid.
The treatment is an oral antiviral medication and is manufactured and produced by the Pfizer Company.

“We have been in communication with Pfizer to be able to procure Paxlovid and hopefully we’ll be able to have those arrangements in place so that we can have Paxlovid in Guyana,” Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony said during Thursday’s COVID-19 update.

The minister added that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected many children across the world and treating them was never simple.
He noted that although children have shown milder symptoms of the disease, there are others with comorbidities who are presented with the more severe form of the infection.

“We would have [sic] seen that throughout this pandemic it was difficult for us to be able to treat children, although generally children do have a milder form of the illness. There are cases when sometimes they do present with severe illnesses and it has been challenging in managing those patients,” Dr Anthony said.

Additionally, the Health Minister said Guyana has been using Remdesivir and Molnupiravir to treat COVID-19 patients; however, these medications are mostly used in the adult population.
The Remdesivir treatment, according to Dr Anthony, is also effective in treating children infected with COVID-19.

“More recently, the company making Remdesivir would have [sic] presented the data showing that they have done clinical trials among children and that Remdesivir has been very effective, so this is a good development,” the Health Minister related.

In terms of the Molnupiravir treatment, Minister Anthony said approval has also been granted to treat severe cases. This medication is now available locally and is produced by a licensed company here.
Dr Anthony also noted that the ministry is prepared to treat children with severe COVID-19 if any case is to be recorded.

Despite recorded reductions in the number of cases, the Health Minister urged citizens to get vaccinated as it is important for the population to become immunised against the disease. Minister Anthony said three COVID-19 vaccines namely Sinopharm, Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson are currently available in the country. (DPI)