Doctors in the Netherlands will soon be able to prescribe Paxlovid, or the “corona pill”, after it was approved by the Medicines Evaluation Board (MEB) in January.
The country will introduce Paxlovid in the basic health insurance package. So, you won’t have to pay extra when buying it anymore.
However, the pill is only eligible for certain groups of people. Particularly, those who are at very high risk of developing the disease, writes RTL Nieuws.
“This concerns, for example, people who do not receive the vaccine properly due to an underlying disease that affects the immune system, or because of old age,” says Joost Wiersinga, an internist-infectiologist at UMC Amsterdam.
Doctors will only prescribe Paxlovid to high-risk patients, such as the elderly, those with heart and lung diseases, and people with a reduced immune system.
If your doctor doesn’t think you are suitable for the medicine, but you still want to take the pill, you will have to pay the manufacturing costs of €1242 for it.
When and where can I get Paxlovid?
The National Health Care Institute of the Netherlands recently advised Ernst Kuipers, Minister of Public Health, to include the medicine in the basic health insurance package.
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It will still take a couple more weeks before doctors in the Netherlands can prescribe it to their patients.
But, you can expect to find Paxlovid at your local physician no later than December 2022.
A hefty amount to pay
However, introducing this medication to Dutch society doesn’t come without setbacks. The National Healthcare Institute must pay €1242 for a complete pill cure — €707 more than what the US government currently pays.
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According to those costs, Paxlovid will cost Dutch society between 33 and 74 million euros in 2023.
But, there’s still room for negotiation between the ministry and the manufacturer, says a spokesperson for the National Healthcare Institute.
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