Paxlovid appears to live up to its reputation as a Tamiflu remedy for COVID-19, maintaining its effectiveness even against emerging variants, according to a new study.
The protection was less than the 90 percent relief in hospitalizations noted in Paxlovid’s clinical trials, which took position on the COVID-19 Delta wave, said lead researcher Dr. Scott Dryden-Peterson, an infectious disease specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Dr. Amesh Adalja, a principal investigator at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said the new study “provides concrete evidence that Paxlovid has the ability to hospitalize and die in high-risk people, even when vaccinated and inflamed with Omicron, making those occasions less frequent.
Paxlovid comes in the form of a single dose of 3 tablets. Two of the tablets are nirmatrelvir, a drug that prevents COVID from spreading to uninfected cells in the body. The other tablet is ritonavir, a drug that stimulates the activity of antiviral drugs.
For the study, Dryden-Peterson and colleagues tested Paxlovid on more than 30,000 people over the age of 50 and older in Massachusetts and New Hampshire who were infected with COVID-19. More than 87% of patients were vaccinated.
Paxlovid can only be prescribed to others who are at risk of contracting a severe form of COVID-19.
A total of 39 deaths occurred among the 30,000 patients studied. All of the deaths occurred in patients who had been prescribed Paxlovid, the researchers said.
The study shows that paxlovid is worth introducing in high-risk patients in the treatment window, which does not exceed five days after the onset of symptoms, Dryden-Peterson said.
“It’s very difficult to get it to other people on time,” Dryden-Peterson said. “It takes a long time for nurses caring for patients and their doctors to prescribe this drug safely, and it requires a huge investment. “
The exam is available as a pre-draw on the medRxiv website.
Biden’s management has tried to make Paxlovid available to patients more seamlessly with its Test-To-Treat initiative.
People can get tested for COVID and get Paxlovid at the same time in thousands of locations across the country as part of the initiative. These locations feature pharmacy clinics, federally funded gyms, long-term care services, and networking sites.
The initiative also simplifies Paxlovid for others who have chosen to get tested through their own health care providers.
More information
The U. S. Department of Health and Human Serviceshas the Test-To-Treat initiative.