by Rachel Klein ‘22

Earlier this year, the Covid-19 vaccine was rolled out in stages to everyone 12 years old and up. The vaccine has been proven to lower the risk of contracting and spreading the virus. Although the vaccine is currently the best protection against Covid-19, the pharmaceutical company Merck is releasing a pill that will help people who have recently caught the virus stay out of the hospital and lower deaths among all Covid-19 patients. The antiviral drug, called Molnupiravir, is said to have the potential to be revolutionary in the world of Covid-19.

There are many beneficial factors that come with using Molnupiravir, such as cutting the risk of hospitalization and death in Covid-19 patients and protecting against variants like the Delta variant. The pill did well in its test trials, causing many to believe they could lead to a positive outcome. While it seems like a no-brainer to roll this pill out to the public, there are many difficulties that come with it as well.

While the pill will easily be distributed in richer countries such as the United States and Australia, who have already made billion-dollar agreements to purchase millions of these pills, it will be much harder for lower income countries to obtain the drug. The United States alone made a, “$1.2 billion agreement to purchase 1.7 million courses of the drug if it receives FDA authorization” according to the New York Times. 1.7 million courses is equivalent to 20 percent of what Merck can make this year. 

If the United States and other wealthier countries are taking all of the pills, what is left for the poorer countries? This has been a concern of many, and led to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation spending $120 million to allow these lower income countries to have access to the drug if it gets authorized. 

As another result of this potential problem, Merck has decided to release their formula for the Covid-19 pill and allow other countries to start manufacturing their own, in hopes that lower income countries will not face the same issues they did with getting the vaccine. As of now the drug has not been authorized by the FDA, but if it does, it could be a game-changer.