Anti-viral Covid pills should be made available to cancer patients, charity says

New treatments such as Paxlovid can reduce the risk of hospitalisation and death in high risk coronavirus patients by 89 per cent

The government is in advanced negotiations to secure a supply of Paxlovid before Ireland’s allotted entitlement under the European Union’s joint procurement agreement

The Irish Cancer Society has called on the government to make new anti-viral pills which treat Covid-19 available to cancer patients and other high risk groups as soon as possible.

“We are calling on the Department of Health and HSE to ensure priority access to new treatments for this group of patients, and to publish plans for their administration as soon as possible so we can protect the most vulnerable and provide them with reassurance,” ...