COVID-19 infections are rising rapidly in China, yet patients continue to struggle to obtain treatment in time. Concerns are growing that even oral antivirals, which are most effective when taken in the early stages of infection, are virtually unavailable at ordinary pharmacies, widening the treatment gap for the elderly and high-risk groups.
According to a report by China's Economic Observer on the 6th, citing data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 20.3% of patients with influenza-like symptoms who visited outpatient and emergency departments at national sentinel surveillance hospitals from the 20th to the 26th of last month tested positive for COVID-19.
This is up 4.0 percentage points from the previous week. The Chinese CDC judged that COVID-19 is currently at a moderate stage of prevalence. Li Dongzeng, a doctor in the respiratory and infectious diseases department at Beijing You'an Hospital affiliated with Capital Medical University, forecast that the scale of infections could grow further over the next one to two weeks.
While the number of patients is increasing, access to treatment has hardly improved. There have been a series of cases in which patients delayed treatment after confirming a COVID-19 diagnosis because they could not find a way to obtain medication.
Xiaoqing, who works in Beijing, experienced dizziness, severe fatigue, sore throat, and fever on the 26th of last month. A self-test kit confirmed a positive COVID-19 result, but she could not buy treatment at nearby ordinary pharmacies. She even searched pharmacies listed on online platforms but found no available products.
Currently, to be prescribed COVID-19 treatment in China, one must visit a hospital in person for a consultation or use certain pharmacies directly operated by e-commerce platforms. Even when ordering online, delivery usually takes one to two days, and in suburban or rural areas it reportedly takes up to five days.
Although several types of oral COVID-19 antivirals have already received formal approval in China, they are still not sold at most ordinary retail pharmacies nationwide. This is because sales restrictions established years ago during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic remain in place.
There have also been cases where delays in medication delivery caused patients to miss the window when treatment could be effective. In mid-last month, a COVID-19 patient living in Jiangsu Province found that the only treatment available at a nearby hospital was Paxlovid, priced at more than 1,700 yuan, or about 360,000 won in Korean currency. Paxlovid is an oral antiviral combining the components nirmatrelvir and ritonavir.
Finding the high price burdensome, she ordered a Chinese-made treatment priced at 445 yuan (about 94,000 won) on an online platform. The platform indicated the medication would be delivered the next day, but it had not arrived even after five days.
Oral COVID-19 antivirals help lower the risk of worsening to severe illness only when taken in the early stages after symptoms appear. However, it is pointed out that the combination of pharmacy sales restrictions and delivery delays is preventing patients from taking medication at the very time they need it.
An official at a pharmaceutical company noted, "COVID-19 treatments went through initial conditional approval and are now formally licensed drugs, but many regions still apply the sales management rules from 2022."
Another pharmaceutical industry official said, "For a patient to register at a hospital, wait, undergo testing and receive a prescription before obtaining medication takes half a day to a full day." He added, "If elderly people with mobility difficulties or high-risk groups could purchase treatment at home or at pharmacies near their communities, it would help with prompt treatment and reducing the risk of severe illness."
