WASHINGTON: Most people will retain access to Pfizer’s Paxlovid and Merck’s Lagevrio Covid-19 oral antiviral treatments for little or no cost even after the US government starts handing over their distribution to the commercial market next month, health officials said on Friday.
The US government paid around US$530 per course for Paxlovid, the most commonly prescribed at-home Covid-19 treatment in the country, and made it available at no cost. “The launch of these products, which is what’s going to happen on Nov 1, is not going to bring sudden changes because there’s still an ample supply of federally-owned therapeutics with millions of treatment courses still in the field,” said a US Department of Health and Human Services official.
Providers will be able to order government-supplied Lagevrio until Nov 10 and Paxlovid until Dec 15, the official said, and the government is encouraging them to keep distributing the federal-owned supply they have at no cost until it expires or runs out.