Health Canada Approved A Pfizer Pill To Treat COVID-19
In trials, the pill reduced deaths and hospitalizations by 89% versus a placebo.
Health Canada has officially approved Pfizer's COVID-19 antiviral treatment for use among adults 18 years and over. Considering that Quebec's hospitals are currently overwhelmed, the approval of the drug, called Paxlovid, might be the light at the end of the tunnel many have been looking for. (Although of course, we've heard that line before.)
Quebec's Minister of Health and Social Services Christian Dubé remarked on the approval on Monday, calling it "very good news" for the province and its overwhelmed health care system. In a tweet, Dubé stated that "we can hope that this treatment will eventually allow us to limit our hospitalizations due to COVID-19."
Paxlovid is not preventative like a vaccine — it's designed to be used to treat an infection. The treatment is said to lessen the symptoms from mild to moderate infections and reduce the period in which an individual remains ill from the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The drug combines nirmatrelvir — an inhibitor designed to block the replication of the virus — with ritonavir — which helps slow the body's breakdown of nirmatrelvir so that it remains active longer. It will be made available by prescription only and is the very first antiviral treatment in pill form accessible to Canadians for at-home treatment of COVID-19.
After months of Pfizer's clinical trials, Health Canada observed that "Paxlovid reduced the proportion of participants with COVID-19 related hospitalization or death through Day 28 by 89.1%, compared with placebo."
Update: @GovCanHealth has approved Paxlovid, Pfizer\u2019s antiviral treatment for COVID-19. We\u2019ve secured 1 million treatment courses \u2013 more than 30,000 have already arrived, and we\u2019re getting at least 120,000 more before the end of March.— Justin Trudeau (@Justin Trudeau) 1642456001
Canada has already secured 1 million treatment courses, over 30,000 of which have already arrived, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed in a January 17 tweet. The government expects to receive an additional 120,000 treatments of Pfizer's Paxlovid by the end of March.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.