In December of 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorizations for Pfizer’s Paxlovid and Merck’s molnupiravir oral pills used to treat mild-to-moderate COVID-19 cases. The two COVID-19 pills are very strong antiviral drugs used to treat those who test positive on a COVID-19 test.

Both have capabilities that make outcomes from a COVID-19 infection far less severe to those who are at high risk. When administered to those who test positive, the pill alleviates symptoms of COVID-19, preventing death and hospitalization. Currently in New York state, oral pills are made available through physicians, urgent care and local health systems to those who are immunocompromised, and those who are older and at high risk of a severe illness. As the pills will become widely available in the next coming months, the pharmacy at the Barnes Center at The Arch should develop a plan to incorporate these into the pharmacy for extreme cases.

The FDA stresses that the oral pills should be limited in use, taken with caution and only used when all other treatment options are inaccessible. The Paxlovid pills were authorized to be prescribed to those who are ages 12 and older, while the molnupiravir were authorized to be prescribed to those who are 18-years and older.

The COVID-19 pills were created to mitigate hospitalization and deaths for those diagnosed with the virus and who are susceptible to underlying health conditions. The study that was done for Paxlovid in comparison to a placebo pill shows that the Paxlovid pill “significantly reduced the proportion of people with COVID-19 related hospitalization or death from any cause by 88% compared to placebo among patients.” This shows that the Paxlovid pill is effective in lessening the severity of COVID-19.

According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, the federal government has purchased Paxlovid for distribution across the states, and it will be “limited at first and ramp up significantly in the coming months.” The efficiency of the COVID-19 pill proves that as the COVID-19 pills become widely available for public use, there will likely be fewer emergency hospitalizations for COVID-19, opening up hospital beds for those who are in critical danger and in need of care. In addition, the pills could help COVID-19 no longer be a fatal disease, but rather a short-term sickness that can be cured through prescribed medicine.

Out of the 1,039 patients who have received Paxlovid, just 0.8% were hospitalized or died, while out of the 1,046 patients who received the placebo pill, 6% were hospitalized and faced death. The study for molnupiravir showed that 6.8% of the 709 people that took molnupiravir were hospitalized or faced death while 9.7% of the 699 people who took the placebo were hospitalized or faced death.

While the COVID-19 oral medication is an effective way to reduce hospitalization and deaths, the FDA says that it should not be a substitute for the vaccines and the booster shot. Based on the studies stated above, however, Pfizer and Merck’s oral pills are effective in preventing extreme cases, especially to those who are susceptible to viruses and infections, as well as to those to have underlying health conditions.

Due to the limited supplies of the Paxlovid and the molnupiravir, most pharmacies do not carry these COVID-19 pills. Once they become readily available in the future, however, Syracuse pharmacies including the on-campus Barnes Center pharmacy should carry these medications for the safety and health of our faculty and students. Doing this will further promote an effective and efficient way to treat mild-to-moderate COVID-19 cases for those at risk of severe illness.

Chaeri Chun is a freshman sociology and neuroscience double major. Her column appears biweekly. She can be reached at cchun02@syr.edu.

Published on February 1, 2022 at 10:47 pm