Pfizer’s Paxlovid can prevent severe covid-19 in vulnerable people when taken as a five-day course at home, but the medicine may not eradicate the virus in everyone
Health 18 May 2022
By Clare Wilson
The Pfizer medicine Paxlovid can protect against severe covid-19 in vulnerable people
Fabian Sommer/dpa/Alamy
One of the most effective medicines against severe covid-19 may not eradicate the virus in everyone. Several countries – including the US, UK, Canada, Israel and France – may prescribe a five-day course of the Pfizer drug Paxlovid, which can be taken at home, to people who are particularly vulnerable to covid-19’s complications.
In the trial that led to its approval, Paxlovid cut the risk of a covid-19-related hospitalisation or death by 88 per cent. But emerging reports now suggest …
Article amended on 19 May 2022
This article has been amended to correct the vaccination status of participants in the 2021 Paxlovid trial.
