What is Paxlovid? What to know about Pfizer's COVID drug, its side effects and how to get it
CBSN
Health officials are renewing their pleas to eligible Americans to get prescriptions to Paxlovid, Pfizer's COVID pills, to curb their risk of hospitalization and death from the disease, as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise. President Biden announced Thursday that he has contracted COVID and that he is taking Paxlovid to treat its symptoms
Figures published by the Biden administration this week count more than 2.7 million twice daily, five day courses of Paxlovid, or "ritonavir-boosted nirmatrelvir," that have been taken by patients through July 17. The drugs themselves are purchased and distributed for free by the federal government.
Use of Paxlovid far outstrips that of other available COVID-19 treatments authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, like Merck's Lagevrio antiviral pills or the monoclonal antibody drug bebetelovimab from Eli Lilly.
