The White House on Thursday announced new measures to make the antiviral remedy paxlovid more available in the United States, as it predicts that COVID-19 infections will continue to spread during the summer travel season.
The first federally supported verification site for the remedy opens Thursday in Rhode Island, giving patients immediate access to the drug once they test positive. More federally subsidized sites are expected to open in the coming weeks in Massachusetts and New York, whether affected by a sharp spike in infections.
Next week, the U. S. will send legal federal prescribers to several testing sites run by Minnesota, turning them into testing sites to try. Federal regulators have also sent clearer instructions to doctors to help them manage Paxlovid’s interactions with other drugs, in an effort to help prescribers find ways to get the life-saving drug to more people. patients
Despite a spike in COVID-19 cases across the country, deaths from the virus have remained largely strong over the past eight weeks, as vaccine boosters and widely available treatments have helped separate infections and mortality.
Confirmed infections in the United States have quadrupled since last March, from about 25,000 per day to more than 105,000 per day now. But deaths, which have tended to delay infections for 3 to 4 weeks during the coronavirus pandemic, have peaked to less than 300 consistent with the day.
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This is the first time in the pandemic that the two have not evolved together, said White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha. He called this vital progress in helping Americans return to normal life.
“What’s remarkable in the most recent buildup of infections we’re seeing is the stability of serious illnesses and especially deaths over the last eight weeks,” he said. “COVID is no longer the killer even a year ago. “
Jha said that given the more widespread use of immediate home testing, the effects of which are not reported to public fitness officials, the actual number of daily infections is likely to be 200,000 or more, double the reported rate, which, according to him, only makes the death rate plateau more significant.
He gave credence to vaccines, but also to a more than fourfold accumulation in prescriptions over the past six weeks for effective treatment of Paxlovid.
Jha said that about 25,000 to 30,000 paxlovid cures are prescribed each day. When administered within five days of symptom onset, the drug has been shown to produce 90% relief in patient hospitalizations and deaths. get a serious illness.
Due to an update in the way Paxlovid is allocated to states, the number of pharmacies where it can be obtained has doubled in the last month to nearly 40,000.
“We’re now at a point where I basically think most COVID deaths are preventable, that the deaths that happen there are generally unnecessary and now we have a lot of equipment to make sure other people don’t die from this disease. Jha told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
As the summer months approach, Jha said the “first” thing other people want to do is “get stronger,” and if they have an advanced infection, they see their doctor for Paxlovid. He said meetings of all sizes can take a stand. safer thanks to the available equipment, if other people use it.
“In places in the country where recovery rates are much lower, where the infection will spread more, I’m sure we’re going to see, unfortunately, more serious illness,” he said.
“Being vaccinated and strengthened is a vital component in ensuring that such activities are particularly safer,” he added. If you get an advanced infection, you are still protected from serious diseases. “
USA. The U. S. food and drug administration ordered 20 million Paxlovid cures from drugmaker Pfizer, and the country will most likely run out of this drug this winter if the drug continues to be widely used. plus Paxlovid and other treatments, as well as other boosters.
While management has begun making plans for the possible desire to ration the federal vaccine source if Congress doesn’t act, Jha said his message to prescribers is not to worry about the source.
“I think we now use whatever is mandatory to protect Americans,” Jha said.
Additional information through The Associated Press.
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