COVID-19: Biden Boosts Access To Antivirals As Demand Increase
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration announced plans on Tuesday to nearly double the number of pharmacies that carry antiviral pills to combat covid-19 as many consumers report difficulty finding a doctor to prescribe the medication, or a pharmacy that carries it, when they get sick. Dozens have struggled to get Paxlovid pill amid the latest wave of infections driven by the highly transmissible omicron subvariant BA.2 Paxlovid was expected to be a major tool in the battle against COVID after it reduced hospitalizations or deaths in high-risk patients by around 90% in a clinical trial. Beginning from this week pharmacies participating in the federal pharmacy program for distributing antiviral treatments will be able to order the free treatments directly from the U.S. government.