Paxlovid Update

A run down on how the world's #1 treatment for Covid is holding up, and whether it makes sense for everyone to take it when they get sick.

[Category : Aware : commentary on key news]

I want to provide a briefing on Paxlovid, since I have been prescribing so much of it the past several weeks. Doctors in the U.S. are now prescribing 160,000+ courses per week. Unfortunately, the Covid train wreck continues.

The number of people hospitalized with Covid in our health system has doubled over the past week. In our three hospitals we have about 100 persons admitted. This bump does correlate with what I have been writing to you about recently. BA.5 is here, super contagious, and breaking through immunity from vaccines and prior infections. Without those imperfect shields we would be in crisis mode right now. Test positivity rates in NYC, for example, are at 25%. That is consistent with a major wave.

So, what have I learned about Paxlovid since we first started using it this year? Does it work as well for average risk people as it did for unvaccinated, high risk people in the original clinical trial? Are we seeing rebound Covid syndromes after the 5 day course is completed? Should we be prescribing 10 days for some people? Did Dr. Fauci kind of mess up in terms of when he decided to take Paxlovid? Does it have tasting notes of bitter almonds and metal filings? Are the 10-15 prescriptions I write per day during this churning BA.5 wave actually saving lives? Does treatment with Paxlovid reduce symptom severity and duration? Join us, and read on! I’ll conclude with a sense of awe at beholding the Universe, sure to clear the palate of that metallic aftertaste…