The government will begin administering Pfizer's COVID-19 pill nationwide this Friday, after granting emergency use authorization late last month.

According to health authorities on Wednesday, the oral drug will be distributed to state treatment facilities and related pharmacies for patient use starting Friday.

Twenty-one-thousand courses of the pill, named Paxlovid, are scheduled to arrive in the country on Thursday, with another set of ten-thousand courses set to be delivered by the end of this month.

Paxlovid will be provided to patients at high risk of severe infection within five days of symptoms starting. The first batch will be offered to those aged at least 65 or with weak immune systems receiving treatment.

Authorities expect the pill to curb the virus' spread, including the omicron variant.