Pfizer’s COVID pills approved for high-risk patients

The Food and Drug Administration authorized the first pill for COVID-19 on Wednesday. The COVID-19 pill, known as Paxlovid, is authorized for COVID patients who are 12 or older and are vulnerable to becoming severely ill due to previous medical conditions or old age.  

“Today’s authorization introduces the first treatment for COVID-19 that is in the form of a pill that is taken orally — a major step forward in the fight against this global pandemic,” said Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “This authorization provides a new tool to combat COVID-19 at a crucial time in the pandemic as new variants emerge and promises to make antiviral treatment more accessible to patients who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19.”

The treatment could be available in a few days and could help tens of millions of people affected by the virus. The treatment involved taking 30 pills over five days. Patients take two Pfizer pills and ritonavir, a low-dose H.I.V. drug that helps Pfizer’s drug to remain active in the body.

According to the clinical trial of Paxlovid, the pill was highly effective against the virus. The final analysis of the drug found that the medicine reduces hospitalization or death by 88 percent when taken by high-risk unvaccinated patients within five days of the start of their symptoms.

Pfizer claims the pills are also likely to work against the new omicron variant, which has been spreading rapidly throughout the U.S.

The federal government has ordered Paxlovid to treat 10 million people. The drug will cost around $530 per patient.

Pfizer is expected to deliver enough pills to cover 65,000 Americans within a week of authorization. The company will deliver another 200,000 in January and 150,000 in February. The pace of delivery is expected to pick up significantly after February. 

To access the pills, patients will need to have a positive test result for the virus and obtain a prescription from a health provider within five days of the beginning of their symptoms, said the FDA.