Hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 antivirals are sitting on shelves across Canada – CBC

Paxlovid is effective at reducing hospitalizations, but relatively few patients are getting the treatment

Sep 27, 2022

Health Canada has distributed enough of the antiviral Paxlovid to treat more than 700,000 people with COVID-19, yet the provinces have given only a fraction of that medication to patients.

Paxlovid has been shown to significantly reduce hospitalizations and deaths among people most at risk from COVID-19, such as seniors and people with compromised immune systems. It’s a combination of pills that can be obtained for free with a prescription and taken at home, but must be started within five days of symptoms appearing.

Research by CBC News finds that the provinces have dispensed less than 15 per cent of their Paxlovid supply since the medication was approved in January.

This low usage rate means hundreds of thousands of treatment courses are sitting unused across Canada. That’s prompting questions about why more people aren’t getting an antiviral that could help keep them out of hospital, especially with health systems across the country under strain.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/covid-19-paxlovid-antiviral-medication-1.6590443