SEOUL (Reuters). -South Korea has begun to use additional drugs to prevent a rise in COVID-19 omicron infection. Authorisations have been granted for the usage of Novavax (NASDAQ:) Inc will distribute its first vaccine Wednesday. Pfizer (NYSE) – Antiviral drugs.

The South Korean government announced that at least 21,000 Paxlovid (an antiviral pill from Pfizer) will arrive on Thursday. An additional 10,000 pills are due to arrive by end-of-the month.

These pills were approved for emergency use in December and will be used to treat more than 1000 people each day, according to the ministry.

According to a spokesperson for the ministry, patients over 65 and those suffering from reduced immunity at home or residential treatment centres will receive oral treatment first.

Data from the clinical trial showed that Paxlovid prevented nearly 90% of deaths and hospitalizations among patients who were at highest risk for severe illness. Pfizer says that recent laboratory data suggest the drug is still effective against Omicron.

South Korea’s Food and Drug Safety Ministry announced that it has approved Novavax, joining the ranks previously authorized vaccines by AstraZeneca. (NASDAQ:) Inc Moderna (NASDAQ:) Inc, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:)’s Janssen.

South Korean vaccine company SK Bioscience Co Ltd announced that Novavax will be produced by them.

European Union regulators have granted approval for the two-dose protein-based vaccine.

Novavax, Serum Institute in India and Indonesia have all approved it.

Novavax has been approved in Japan. Takeda Pharmaceutical will manufacture the vaccine and distribute it.

Health officials claim that at least 84.2% (or 52 million) of the nation’s population were fully vaccinated and that 42.5% had received booster shots.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, (KDCA), South Korea had added 4 388 COVID-19 new cases by midnight Tuesday. This brings the total number of cases and deaths in the country up to 674 868 since the outbreak.

This number is down from its all-time peak of almost 8,000 cases per day in December, when authorities reinstated strict social distancing to stop the trend.

Omicron is only a small percentage of South Korea’s current cases, but it has increased to over 12.5%, from just 4% at December’s end, according to health officials.