Covid-19, Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Markets and Companies, Medicine

The government at its Thursday's sitting approved a proposal of the Ministry of Finance to allocate 310,500 euros to the Health Board for the purchase if the coronavirus drug Remdesivir and its distribution to hospitals for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, spokespeople for the government said.

Remdesivir is needed by patients who need additional oxygen due to pneumonia. The European Commission has approved the use of the drug as an anti-coronavirus drug.

The Estonian State Agency of Medicines has permitted the use of Remdesivir, which inhibits replication of the virus in cells, only on patients in serious condition. 

At least two major scientific surveys in the United States have shown that Remdesivir reduces the amount of time that patients must spend in hospital.