A new pill, Paxlovid, treats the novel coronavirus after you become infected. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved it for emergency use. Three infectious disease experts at Yale Medicine explain that Paxlovid is an antiviral pill that can prevent older people and immunocompromised people from being hospitalized and dying as a result of COVID-19.
How do you get Paxlovid? Your doctor must prescribe it for you and can do so if you test positive for COVID-19. Anyone over 18 who weighs at least 88 pounds can get a prescription if they are at “high risk” of getting a severe case of COVID-19, either because of age or a serious underlying medical condition, such as diabetes or cancer.
How quickly must I take Paxlovid for it to work? You must take Paxlovid within five days of getting COVID-19 symptoms. If you wait longer, there is a high likelihood that COVID will have already affected your system, and Paxlovid will not be able to erase its effects.
How well does Paxlovid work? You take a three-pill dose two times each day for five days. Nearly nine in ten fewer people who took Paxlovid in a clinical trial were hospitalized than those who did not.
How much does Paxlovid cost? It’s free so long as the COVID-19 public health emergency continues. As of now, the public health emergency will last at least until July.
Is Paxlovid the only drug that treats COVID-19? Molnupiravir (Lagevrio) also treats COVID-19, but its efficacy in terms of preventing hospitalization is not nearly as good as Paxlovid. Paxlovid is also far easier to take than remdesivir, which is administered through an IV.
Does Paxlovid have side effects? It’s too early to know all the side effects of Paxlovid. The FDA has a fact sheet of known side effects. As a general rule, you should not have serious side effects. But, your taste buds might change slightly or you could get diarrhea. In addition, your blood pressure might increase and you could develop muscle aches.
Can I take Paxlovid if I am taking other medicines? It depends. There are interactions if you are a transplant patient taking organ anti-rejection drugs, or if you are taking certain drugs for heart arrhythmias, or if you are taking blood thinners and cholesterol-lowering medicines.
If I cannot take Paxlovid, are there other drugs I can take to reduce my risk of hospitalization? If it is too risky for you to take Paxlovid, you might be able to take sotrovimab (a single IV injection) and remdesivir (a three-day IV injection,) or molnupiravir, another oral medicine.
Why should I get vaccinated and get booster shots if I can get Paxlovid? As efficacious as Paxlovid is, you are still at risk of hospitalization if you get the coronavirus. Getting the vaccine and booster shots reduce those risks.
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