The New COVID Antiviral Pills: What You Need to Know

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 29, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- New antiviral pills for COVID-19 precocious authorized for exigency usage successful high-risk radical by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should springiness doctors an easier means of keeping radical retired of the hospital.

But the archetypal hype is giving mode to reality, arsenic doctors and nationalist wellness officials grapple with the challenges of getting the Pfizer and Merck antiviral pills into the hands of those who request them most.

"Yes, these antivirals are a large beforehand and, yes, I'm excited astir them," said Dr. William Schaffner, aesculapian manager of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. "But I travel down to the existent satellite and accidental we've got to bash this right. It's not similar waving a magic wand, and there's been a spot of that successful the hype, successful the excitement done the media."

Which COVID patients volition beryllium prescribed these pills?

Pfizer's pill, Paxlovid, and Merck's molnupiravir won't beryllium handed retired to everyone who tests affirmative for COVID. They're approved for radical with mild oregon mean COVID who are much apt to go earnestly sick -- chiefly those 65 and older oregon folks who person chronic illnesses similar heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, obesity oregon compromised immune systems.

"The overarching taxable is those radical who are much apt to get terrible illness that lands them into the hospital," Schaffner said.

However, some pills travel with a analyzable database of wellness concerns that bounds the patients to whom they tin beryllium prescribed:

• Paxlovid can beryllium prescribed to kids 12 and older but molnupiravir can't, due to the fact that of concerns that it mightiness interfere with bony growth.
• Molnupiravir can't beryllium prescribed to large women due to the fact that it carries a hazard of commencement defects. Men taking the cause are advised to usage commencement power for astatine slightest 3 months aft the past dose, arsenic the effect connected sperm is not afloat understood.
• Paxlovid isn't recommended for patients with terrible kidney oregon liver problems.
• Both drugs tin interact with different medications a idiosyncratic is taking.

"It's not similar going to a machine, putting successful a 4th and getting retired a candy bar," Schaffner said. "It's a superior medicine of a medication, and the wellness attraction professionals request to bash immoderate screening and education."

Continued

How soon should they commencement taking the pills?

People infected with COVID volition request to commencement taking either antiviral pill wrong 5 days of their archetypal symptoms for the drugs to person immoderate anticipation of quelling their illness.

That means radical should "run, not walk, to get tested" if they make immoderate of these symptoms, Schaffner said:

• Fever oregon chills
• Cough
• Headache
• Difficulty breathing
• Loss of sensation oregon smell
• Sore throat
• Fatigue
• Runny nose
• Muscle oregon assemblage aches

Unfortunately, the United States is successful the midst of a shortage of COVID tests caused by the abrupt surge successful Omicron infections.

"Testing is not universally and rapidly available. It whitethorn instrumentality a fewer days for that trial to travel backmost -- each the much crushed for you to get tested arsenic rapidly arsenic possible," Schaffner said.

How are the pills taken?

Both antivirals necessitate a five-day people of treatment. People taking Paxlovid volition request to instrumentality 3 tablets astatine the aforesaid time, doubly a day. Folks prescribed molnupiravir volition request to instrumentality 4 capsules doubly a day.

"People truly person to beryllium told, you can't halt astatine time 3 and expect immoderate benefit. You've got to instrumentality it each the mode through," Schaffner said. "At slightest 3 pills doubly a time for 5 days -- I tin archer you not everybody volition bash that. They truly person to beryllium encouraged to bash that and reinforced and person it explained to them."

There are different concerns beyond the information that the drugs won't enactment if the regimen isn't afloat carried out. Molnupiravir works by introducing mistakes into COVID-19's familial code, causing the microorganism to churn retired faulty copies and yet tally itself into the ground. Some infectious illness experts are disquieted that if radical don't instrumentality the afloat course, it could pb to caller and perchance much unsafe variants of COVID.

"We'll person to beryllium successful a concern wherever we're truly cautious astir however these drugs are prescribed and however they're administered, ensuring near-perfect compliance truthful that they enactment astir efficaciously and don't induce resistance," said Dr. Jonathan Abraham, an adjunct prof of microbiology astatine Harvard Medical School.

Continued

Where tin patients get the pills?

A affirmative COVID trial is lone the archetypal hurdle that patients volition face. To get either antiviral pill, they'll request to instrumentality their trial results to a doc oregon wellness attraction supplier and get a ceremonial medicine -- they can't conscionable inquire for the cause astatine a pharmacy counter.

This is wherever the timing of the FDA support works against itself. The drugs were approved conscionable earlier the holidays, which has slowed down the process by which the medications are being disseminated.

"The states are being allocated a precise constricted fig of these medications astatine the contiguous time. It volition grow arsenic we get into 2022, but initially they'll person a precise constricted magnitude of these courses of attraction available," Schaffner said.

"The states are going to person to archer radical wherever they're disposable and however to get them. I surely haven't heard thing from my authorities wellness section yet," Schaffner continued. "Where bash you spell with that medicine if determination are lone a precise constricted fig of courses of attraction available? If I'm successful Nashville and they're disposable successful Memphis, that doesn't assistance maine precise much."

Doctors besides are going to beryllium hesitant to commencement prescribing either pill until they afloat recognize each the drawbacks regarding who should and shouldn't beryllium fixed the drugs, Schaffner added.

How overmuch volition the pills cost?

The U.S. national authorities is buying each archetypal supplies of some Paxlovid and molnupiravir, Schaffner said.

"One would expect those are going to beryllium free, but I person not seen a wide connection astir that," Schaffner said.

Will the pills enactment against the Delta and Omicron variants of COVID?

COVID vaccines enactment by producing antibodies that onslaught the coronavirus' spike macromolecule -- the portion of the microorganism that helps it invade quality cells. The caller variants are the virus' effect to those antibodies, arsenic the coronavirus attempts to mutate its mode astir vaccine protection.

In contrast, the antiviral drugs enactment by attacking different parts of the coronavirus' beingness cycle, breaking down the means by which the microorganism replicates itself. Because of that, infectious illness experts judge that the pills volition beryllium effectual against the latest COVID variants.

Continued

Do recently diagnosed COVID patients person different attraction options?

People who can't get a medicine for the Pfizer oregon Merck drugs inactive tin beryllium treated utilizing monoclonal antibodies -- cloned achromatic humor cells introduced into the bloodstream that straight onslaught the COVID coronavirus.

But monoclonal antibodies are overmuch little convenient, since they indispensable beryllium administered astatine a infirmary oregon clinic, arsenic either an IV oregon an injection.

Even worse, the Omicron variant has rendered ineffective 2 of the 3 FDA-approved monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID, said Jeffrey Zients, the White House's coronavirus effect coordinator.

"Fortunately, GlaxoSmithKline’s [GSK] monoclonal antibody attraction is effective, truthful we acted rapidly to unafraid much proviso of it," Zients said successful a White House media briefing. "We’re doubling -- much than doubling -- the proviso of GSK’s monoclonal to much than 1 cardinal attraction courses, with 300,000 attraction courses disposable successful January."

Despite that, it could beryllium harder for radical to find and person the remaining effectual monoclonal antibody attraction since the different 2 options are present gone.

Remdesivir, the archetypal antiviral approved to dainty COVID, is lone fixed to radical hospitalized with the illness.

More information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has much astir COVID drugs.

SOURCES: William Schaffner, MD, aesculapian director, National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Md.; Jonathan Abraham, MD, PhD, adjunct professor, microbiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston; White House media briefing, Dec. 22, 2021