Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Kamall on 31 January (HL Deb cols 621–3), whether the antiviral pills molnupiravir and Paxlovid will be available for free on the National Health Service; and if not, how people will be able to get hold of them.

Molnupiravir and PF-07321332+ritonavir (co-packaged as Paxlovid) are currently available for eligible National Health Service patients through COVID Medicines Delivery Units (CMDUs). Eligible patients who receive a positive COVID-19 test result will be contacted by a clinician from a CMDU to discuss what treatments could be suitable for them.

For those patients not already exempt from prescription charges, we have announced that antiviral medicines prescribed via CMDUs will be supplied free of charge until 31 March 2022. This is supported by Regulation 13 of The National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) Regulations 2015.