WHO calls on Pfizer to make its COVID pill more available

GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization has called on Pfizer to make its COVID-19 treatment more widely available in poorer countries.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news briefing on Tuesday that Pfizer’s pill was still too expensive despite the pharmaceutical company allowing generic producers to make the drug.

He noted that most countries in Latin America had no access to Pfizer’s drug, Paxlovid, which has been shown to cut the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization or death by up to 90%.

The WHO chief warned that the unequal distribution of COVID-19 drugs could ultimately mirror the grossly disproportionate distribution of coronavirus vaccines.