There will be more treatment options in January for people at greater risk of becoming seriously ill from Covid-19.
The US Food and Drug Administration approved the first two pills used to treat Covid-19 this week, and there are reports of shortages of the Omicron variant of the drug.
Andrew Pekosz, an epidemiologist from the Baltimore school of public health, said that the antivirals are perfect for where the monoclonal antibodies are no longer useful.
The need for more options to treat Covid has increased due to the spike in cases, but also because only one of the three treatments used to treat Covid has proven effective against Omicron, and it is now in short supply across the country.
As long as production and distribution of the anti-virals can be geared up, they will be an important tool to fight off severe disease.
The FDA approval of the pills from Pfizer and Merck is important as hospitals try to contend with Omicron, which is more contagious than previous versions and has led to a sharp increase in Covid cases in New York.
Public health officials around the country don't know how the initial limited supply of pills will be distributed.
William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at the University School of Medicine, said there are still questions about how efficient the system will be to get these pills to people in time.
The FDA approved Paxlovid from Pfizer on Wednesday, which reduced the risk of hospitalization for high-risk patients when they took it within three days of the start of symptoms and almost the same amount when taken within five days. The agency approved the pill for people at high risk of severe illness from the virus.
The White House Covid-19 response coordination said that Paxlovid treatment courses will be available in January and late summer.
The federal agency authorized a drug that has not been shown to be as effective as Paxlovid against hospitalization from Covid. Mild to moderate Covid can be treated for adults at high risk of severe illness from the virus.
3m courses are expected to be available in January, thanks to the federal government pre-buying 10m courses.
The federal government distributes the pills to states and community health centers.
Schaffner said that they have not seen the logistical plan for who needs to be called right at that critical time after a person develops symptoms and tests positive for Covid. You want to get these pills as soon as possible so that you don't end up in the hospital.
Even though the Pfizer pill has less effectiveness against the virus, Pekosz still recommends that people at high risk from Covid who become sick take whatever anti-viral drug is available.
France canceled its order for the drug because of the data showing that it only reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 30%, compared with preliminary data that showed a 50% reduction.
If there was only one thing available, I would take the drug from the company.
Dr Farrin Manian, an infectious disease specialist and chair of the department of medicine at the hospital, said he was excited about the Pfizer antiviral but hesitant about the Merck pill because of the theoretical concern that it could alter the genome of the virus.
Manian said that people's access to the antivirals will depend on their access to Covid tests, which have been in short supply in the United States.
Manian hopes that more testing will be made available to the public so that when these drugs become available, the testing will not be a problem.
The new antivirals could help people who are not immune to the virus, at a much greater risk of becoming seriously ill or dying.
Schaffner said that the medications may slow down the acceptance of vaccine because they are likely to be looked upon with favor by a lot of people who are vaccine averse. We have lost half of our one-two punch.
