Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Kamall on 3 March (HL6393), why pharmacists are unable to (1) stock, and (2) sell, COVID-19 treatments including (a) molnupiravir, and (b) Paxlovid.

Community pharmacies dispense prescriptions issued by general practice. COVID-19 treatments, including the oral antiviral treatments molnupiravir and nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid), are not currently available for general practice prescribing. In England, these treatments are prescribed by a clinician within a COVID Medicine Delivery Unit. Where an oral antiviral treatment is prescribed, this can be collected from a named pharmacy usually in a hospital, or alternatively sent directly to the patient’s home.