COVID-19 pills will be introduced in the country as early as mid-January, as the government is pushing for pre-purchase deals for enough of the medication to treat more than one million people.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) on Monday outlined plans to introduce the antiviral pills.

So far, deals for pills enough to treat 604-thousand people have been made, with an amount covering 242-thousand people to come from Merck & Co. and pills to treat 362-thousand people to come from Pfizer. 

The government is seeking to secure oral medication for an additional 400-thousand people with contracts to be signed early next month.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Monday granted emergency use authorization for Pfizer's pill, Paxlovid, putting it on pace to be the first to be used domestically. 

The KDCA said it is holding talks with pharmaceutical firms to have a larger initial batch delivered earlier. It said it expects the oral drugs to help reduce COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.