Pfizer's Paxlovid still free, for now, after FDA grants full approval to COVID drug

The Biden administration will continue to manage the distribution of free courses of Pfizer's Paxlovid treatment for COVID-19 for at least another few months, the drugmaker said, even after the Food and Drug Administration granted Pfizer full approval Thursday to market the pills.

"At this time, the U.S. government will continue to oversee the distribution of PAXLOVID, and U.S. residents eligible for PAXLOVID will continue to receive the medicine at no charge," Pfizer said in a release.

Federal officials have previously said that the widely-expected approval of the drug, as well as the unwinding of the public health emergency earlier this month, would have no immediate impact on distribution of government-bought supplies of the pills.