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Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly is to seek Cabinet approval today for the purchase of €90 million worth of Covid anti-viral drugs.
The drugs, manufactured by Merck, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, have shown good effectiveness at reducing the risk of severe illness and hospitalisation among those infected with Covid.
Mr Donnelly is seeking approval for permission for the HSE to proceed with the purchase. It is expected the drugs will become available in Ireland in the coming weeks, initially at lower volumes.
Trials have shown encouraging results, including one with Pfizer’s drug showing good effectiveness against the Omicron variant.
Pfizer said in December that the final analysis of its antiviral Covid-19 pill still showed near 90 per cent efficacy in preventing hospitalisations and deaths in high-risk patients, and recent lab data suggests the drug retains its effectiveness against the Omicron variant.
It comes as a further 21,302 of Covid-19 cases were recorded in the State on Tuesday, alongside an increase of 80 patients in hospital to 884.
However, there is cautious optimism among senior sources that the wave of Omicron will not translate to pressure in ICUs or mortality like last winter.
Early data is understood to suggest that the disease may not be spreading as quickly among older and more vulnerable cohorts, who are also heavily boosted. There are 90 people with Covid in ICU – 73 were in critical care on the same day last year.