New Delhi, Oct 17 (TIWN) Countries in Asia Pacific are rushing to place orders for the latest weapon against Covid 19 -- an antiviral pill that isn't even authorized for use yet, CNN reported.

Already, at least eight countries or territories in the Asia-Pacific region have signed deals or are in talks to procure the drug, according to analytics company Airfinity, including New Zealand, Australia, and South Korea, all of which were relatively slow to start their vaccine programs, the report said.  Experts say while the pill looks promising, they worry some people will use it as an alternative to vaccines, which still offer the best protection.  And they caution that Asia's race to stock up on the pill could see a repeat of the vaccine grab last year, when wealthier countries were accused of hoarding doses as lower-income countries missed out, the report said. 

"(Molnupiravir) really does have the potential -- the potential -- to change the game a bit," said Rachel Cohen, the North American executive director at non-profit Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative.  "We need to make sure that we don't repeat history -- that we don't fall into the same patterns or repeat the same mistakes that we saw for Covid vaccines." 

According to Airfinity data, 10 countries or territories are in negotiations or have signed deals for the pill -- and eight of them are in Asia-Pacific.  Some of those countries may be trying to avoid mistakes of the past when slow orders led to delayed vaccine rollouts, the report said.  "There's a few middle-income countries in there that I think are just trying not to fall into the same trap that they were left in when high-income countries hoarded all the vaccines," added Cohen.