Greece expresses interest in Merck pill
The Greek state is weighing how it can proceed with orders of the Merck pill that treats symptoms of the coronavirus, Deputy Health Minister Mina Gaga said on Wednesday while also emphasizing the importance of prevention through the vaccine.
“We are moving forward and checking how we can get orders, we have already started with expressing our interest with the overall medicines market for all of Europe, and we will also see if we can import medicines ourselves,” she told Skai TV.
She noted, however, that “all these new drugs are in limited quantities and of course we will pay for them, but let me remind you that the vaccine costs 15 euros, and protects most of the world, while the medicines start from probably 600-2,000 euros.”
“So it is better to prevent than to try to cure,” she added.
At the same time, Gaga expressed concern about the rate of vaccinations, stressing that “most deaths and admissions to ICUs are of unvaccinated people.”
“We have a significant number of deaths, mostly unvaccinated, with the elderly and those with other health problems mainly at risk,” she warned.
