Evangelos Manolopoulos, Professor of Pharmacology at Democritus University, spoke to SKAI and the show “SK Parea” about the new antiviral drugs of Merck and Pfizer against coronavirus, emphasizing that they are a realistic hope.
“The pills can be given early, in the first days after the infection. As soon as symptoms occur, it is important to start the administration. If they are delayed, then they do not help anything. They need to be able to block the virus from entering the cells. “They restrict him to the upper respiratory tract and do not allow him to be harmed,” he said characteristically.
He added that the approval they receive is for people over 65 who have a disease, whether diabetes or a heart or respiratory problem or immunosuppressed. “This is the indication with which they get the temporary approval. “When there is great availability, it can be granted to everyone,” said Mr. Manolopoulos.
As for the anti-vaccines, he said that in a short time they will say “I do not want the medicine, give me the vaccine”. However, he stressed that in pharmacology, vaccines are the safest drugs available in all categories. “They are less likely to have side effects. “All the other drugs, even the safest ones we all take, are much more likely to have some side effects,” he added.
Regarding the course of the pandemic, the professor estimated that the coming weeks will be difficult, as the number of deaths that will give the many cases of the last days can not be predicted. “The coming weeks will be difficult. The 48 deaths recorded yesterday reflect the approximately 3,000 cases we had two weeks ago. “I do not know, with the 6,000 and 7,000 cases we have reached now, what we will see in two weeks in deaths,” he commented.
Finally, regarding the third dose, he noted that it is not so urgent as to be done before the semester and added that it is very optimistic that the first dose vaccinations are increasing in the last weeks.
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