MP Nathalie Oberweis from the Left issued a parliamentary enquiry, addressed at Minister of Health Paulette Lenert, to find out how the first deliveries of the new coronavirus medication are to be used.

In her official response, Minister Lenert explained that Pfizer's "Paxlovid" medication can reduce the chance of hospitalisation and death following a Covid-19 infection by up to 90%.

The first delivery is expected to arrive in the Grand Duchy next week, although no official date has been announced. However, due to logistical reasons, the first phase envisions that only hospital pharmacies can administer the medication.

Paxlovid is the first medication approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) that vulnerable Covid patients can ingest orally at home.

The pill should be taken by frail patients as soon as they display the first symptoms. According to laboratory-based studies, Paxlovid also works against Omicron.

The pill has to be taken twice a day during a five-day period.

Potential side effects include increased blood pressure, muscle pain, diarrhoea, as well as a loss of taste.