The Division of Well being and Human Providers maintains an inventory of places the place the Pfizer capsule is out there. For now, provide is so restricted that state well being officers are recommending or not it’s used just for the sufferers at highest danger.
The Nationwide Institutes of Well being, which formulates remedy pointers for physicians, advisable final month that when provide is restricted, antiviral tablets and antibody remedies needs to be prioritized for the highest-risk unvaccinated sufferers, in addition to folks of any vaccination standing with weakened immune techniques.
Many state officers have already taken cues from that steerage, saying they’re rigorously distributing the tablets they’ve acquired to folks most in want. Arizona, as an illustration, suggested that Paxlovid be given solely to folks over 70 who even have extreme well being situations like end-stage coronary heart illness, or to youthful sufferers with weakened immune techniques.
In West Virginia, well being officers have shipped round 20 remedy programs to every of 14 places and reserved about 20 extra in case of an outbreak, stated Dr. Clay Marsh, the state’s Covid-19 czar.
And in Louisiana, well being officers met final week with hospital executives from throughout the state, who pitched a plan that the state adopted this week, distributing its most up-to-date allocation of 342 programs of Paxlovid amongst hospital outpatient pharmacies.
Dr. Joseph Kanter, Louisiana’s high well being official, stated the thought was to ease the pressure on overflowing emergency departments and intensive care items, permitting physicians in such settings to discharge at-risk sufferers after prescribing them the capsule.
That can shorten the time between when a affected person is recognized as a candidate for Paxlovid and when the affected person begins taking it, Dr. Kanter stated.
“It’s a must to put it within the palms of suppliers and pharmacists and supply the very best steerage you’ll be able to,” he stated, “then step again and hope it will get to individuals who most want it.”