Promising COVID-19 antiviral pill, Paxlovid, in scarce supply, as doctors, patients compete for access
ABC News
Five weeks after federal regulators gave the green light to the COVID-19 antiviral pill Paxlovid, few people can find it as omicron quickly outstripped supply.
Dr. Albert Lam, a geriatrician who works with nursing home patients in Palo Alto, California, was excited to be among the first to prescribe the new antiviral pill Paxlovid after one of his patients tested positive for COVID-19.
Hailed as a "game-changer" in the pandemic, Paxlovid is a drug made by Pfizer that if taken within five days of being diagnosed reduces the chance of hospitalization and death by 88% for people who are at high risk of severe illness.
The treatment has proved so promising that President Joe Biden included it in a Jan. 4 televised speech on the omicron variant, announcing that the first batch had shipped on Christmas Eve. While production would take "months," Biden said it was in "full swing" and promised the drugs were on their way.
"The United States has more pills than any other country in the world, and our supply is going to ramp up over the coming months as more of these pills are manufactured," Biden said.
