Pharmacists Can Prescribe Pfizer’s Covid Antiviral Paxlovid, FDA Says

The FDA gave the go-ahead for pharmacy to prescribe Paxlovid to eligible patients, a move that could help boost efforts to make the pill more widely available.

After reviewing patients' health records and medication lists, pharmacists can now prescribe the pills to coronaviruses patients who are at a high risk of developing Covid.

Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., director for the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said that allowing state-licensed pharmacists to prescribe Paxlovid could help those who are eligible.

The pills used to be prescribed by health care providers or at "test-to-treat" sites.

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80,000,000. Pfizer wants to make Paxlovid by the end of 2022. Pfizer is spending $120 billion to increase Paxlovid production.

Key Background

Some scientists see Pfizer's drug as a critical tool in the fight against Covid. White House officials have been pushing to improve access to the drug since it was approved for emergency use. People who are positive for the coronaviruses can get Covid treatments if they get tested at a test-to-treat site. Some experts think the program has not sped up access to the drug. Authorization to prescribe the antiviral therapy is something pharmacists want. As the Omicron BA.5 variant has become more prevalent, the daily Covid cases have stopped at around 100,000 in recent weeks, more than triple the roughly 30,000 daily cases recorded in early April.

Tangent

Some patients who took Paxlovid have reported a rebound of infections in which they test positive again for the coronaviruses after a five day course of the drug. Anthony Fauci told CNN last week that taking the drug helped keep him out of the hospital after he tested positive for Covid. A paper published in May states that people with rebound infections can spread the coronaviruses. It is not known how often rebound infections occur or why they occur.

The Paxlovid COVID treatment can be prescribed by the FDA.

Pfizer will spend 120 million dollars to boost Paxlovid production.

Fauci says his Covid recovered.

Live updates on the coronaviruses.