Clinicians complain that there is not enough Paxlovid, the Covid-19 treatment pill for patients with mild symptoms. However, the central government said the domestic supply of Paxlovid was not in shortage and that it would redistribute the supply more fairly among local governments.

Developed by Pfizer, the oral drug Paxlovid treats Covid-19 patients with mild and moderate symptoms. If taken within five days after the onset of symptoms, it can reduce the risk of hospitalization and death by 88 percent. The pills are prescribed for the immunocompromised with the risk of progressing to a serious disease, people aged 40 or more with underlying diseases, and the elderly aged 60 or more.

The spread of the Omicron variant led Covid-19 patients to treat themselves at home, and the demand for Paxlovid has risen recently. However, physicians said they could not prescribe Paxlovid as much as they wanted.

As of Wednesday midnight, 857,132 people infected with Covid-19 stayed at home. The number was up by 199,022 in just one day. Among them, the number of the intensive care group, who can progress to severe disease, reached 129,697.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, despite the spike in demand for Paxlovid, Korea has secured the pills only for 73,000 people as of Wednesday. The nation has given Paxlovid to about 27,000 people so far.

Physicians’ outcry over the shortage of Covid-19 pills is intensifying.

Lee Jae-gab, a professor of the Infectious Disease Department at Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, wrote on his social media that Paxlovid was out of stock in the local government (Yeongdeungpo-gu) where his hospital was located.

“We received a notice today that it was impossible to prescribe the drug. Public health centers and hospitals are busy responding to inquiries from patients asking why they can’t get the pills,” he said.

A gastroenterologist who works at a general hospital in the Seoul metropolitan area said, “What should I do without Paxlovid? Should patients just stay at home, take Tylenol, and wait until they get better?” he said.

Professor Peck Kyong-ran of infectious disease at Samsung Medical Center also said on social media on Wednesday that high-risk Covid-19 patients were increasing because the supply of Paxlovid and remdesivir was limited, and Covid-19 cases were rising among hospitalized patients.

“The government should advance the timing of releasing the pills that it purchased under the contract,” she said.

The government said there was a discrepancy when it divided the amount of Paxlovid for local governments and that it was planning to re-distribute the pills more fairly. It would also speed up the supply of the rest of the pills, it said.