Africa Hopes to Soon Secure Supply of Pfizer’s Covid Pill (1)

African health officials aim to reach an agreement to obtain Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 pill within weeks, which would bring a key virus-fighting tool to the continent.

“If you have such drugs, people can test and treat themselves at home and not overwhelm the health system,” John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told Bloomberg’s The Year Ahead conference. “That is why treatments are very important.”

Africa is seeking supplies of Pfizer’s Paxlovid amid concerns that less wealthy countries could be left behind as they have been with vaccines, despite licensing agreements to broaden ...