Test-to-Treat: What’s the anti-viral COVID-19 pill, and should you take it?
You may have a treatment option if you get COVID-19, but you’ll need to start taking the medication within five days of testing positive for the virus.
Pfizer’s Paxlovid™ antiviral pills received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorization in December 2021, but were hard to get even though central to the “Test-to-Treat” program President Biden announced on March 1. According to the White House, the Test-to-Treat initiative gives people at high risk of severe disease quick access to COVID-19 treatment at pharmacies and other locations where they can get a COVID-19 test, a visit with a medical provider, and, if needed, free oral antiviral pills—all in one visit.
Paxlovid is readily available for the public on Cape Cod, according to Cape Cod Healthcare’s Director of Hospital and Ambulatory Pharmacy, James Mangan, RPh, MBA.
“At last glance there are close to 30 sites in Barnstable County that are dispensing it,” Mangan said. “If your healthcare provider is comfortable generating a prescription for Paxlovid, know it can be filled at any one of 30 sites in the community—primarily Walgreens and CVS locations - under a Federal Pharmacy program. It is important to know that the Outpatient Pharmacies at Cape Cod and Falmouth Hospitals are not participants in the Federal Pharmacy Program and do not dispense Paxlovid.”
Mangan said if your provider isn’t sure whether Paxlovid is right for you, they can fax a referral for “Outpatient COVID therapeutics” to 508-568-1650, and a member of the team will assess the case and order an appropriate therapy.
“All the current COVID-19 therapeutics can be dispensed through Cape Cod Healthcare’s COVID therapeutics center located on the Cape Cod Hospital campus, once triaged and assessed for appropriateness by our COVID 19 referral line,” he said. “Your PCP can refer you there by calling 508-568-1650.”
Who Should Take Paxlovid?
Any positive test (the at-home “antigen” test or PCR test) qualifies you to be considered for treatment, Mangan said.
Paxlovid is used to treat mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults and children 12 years old and older, who weigh at least 88 pounds, explained Benjamin Levin, MD, Chief Quality Officer for Cape Cod Healthcare and a Cape Cod Hospital Hospitalist. Patients must also be confirmed to have COVID-19 through a positive test, and be at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death, he added. The new drug is helpful to people with COVID-19 who are immunocompromised and/or older—those people more likely to become ill with the virus.
“Young, healthy people don’t currently qualify for this medication,” Dr. Levin said. “People who are asymptomatic don’t qualify for this medication. You have to meet specific qualification for us to prescribe it.”
According to Dr. Levin, Paxlovid is not authorized for pre- and post-exposure—people who have been exposed to COVID-19 - but who have not tested positive. The medication may not be taken with certain other medicines, so it’s important that any potential prescriber know all of the prescription and over-the-counter medication you take. And, he re-emphasized that Paxlovid is supposed to be given within the first five days of symptom onset, so you need to seek treatment before the window closes.
“The good news is that in clinical trials, Paxlovid was shown to be nearly 90 percent effective at keeping high-risk patients from developing severe illness,” Dr. Levin said.
If you think you might have COVID, the first thing to do is be tested, he said. “We have a lot of testing sites and centers on the Cape and Islands, or you can use an at-home test,” he said.
If you are positive and have symptoms, contact your primary care provider. They will know if you qualify for Paxlovid, Dr. Levin said.
While Test-to-Treat is not available at this time within Cape Cod Healthcare, Mangan assured that there are plenty of options and choices within Barnstable County for assistance, including many local pharmacies close to everyone’s home.
