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Australia has secured more than 500,000 doses of Covid treatments said to reduce the severity of illness caused by the virus but they are yet to be formally approved for use.
The federal government announced on Sunday that 500,000 courses of Pfizer's oral antiviral drug have been purchased, with the first 5,000 arriving Down Under by the end of October.
The Covid-19 antiviral drug will be used in combination with the protease inhibitor drug ritonavir.
A protease inhibitor drug blocks the enzyme which splits proteins into smaller fragments for viral growth and infection.
The federal government has secured over 500,000 doses of Covid-19 therapy drugs with the first courses set to arrive by the month's end (pictured, a Pfizer vaccine)
Another 15,000 doses of Covid antibody-based therapy Ronapreve were also secured with studies showing the drug reduces the risk of death and hospitalisation by 70 per cent in Covid-infected people.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said clinical trials are still ongoing on the Pfizer treatment but it is expected to reduce the severity of symptoms from the virus in adults who have tested positive to Covid-19.
'This treatment, which is still undergoing clinical trials, is expected to help to reduce the severity or onset of
