As rates of COVID-19 infections rise during the holidays and omicron cases surface across the United States, drug companies Pfizer and Merck are preparing to launch the first COVID-19 pills.
are preparing to launch the first COVID-19 pills. If authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, these at-home treatments could be prescribed by doctors and picked up at your local pharmacy to reduce the risk of becoming severely ill.
Public health officials remain concerned about a pending winter surge. People with higher risk factors -- the unvaccinated, immune compromised, elderly and those with chronic conditions -- need the pills most and may benefit the most, said Dr. Arthur Kim, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital.But with both pills on the cusp of potential FDA authorization, physicians have expressed concern about uptake and access.
At first, the pills will only be available with a doctor's prescription, and with health care resources still strained,"delays in testing and capacity will reduce their effectiveness in the real world," Kim said.But pharmaceutical executives are optimistic that the pills will make a significant dent in the pandemic.
"I want to emphasize that no one should use the existence of the pill as an excuse to avoid vaccination," Bourla said.An experimental COVID-19 treatment pill, called molnupiravir and being developed by Merck & Co Inc and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP, is seen in this undated handout photo released by Merck & Co Inc.
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