AIRLINK 185.82 Decreased By ▼ -2.66 (-1.41%)
BOP 12.59 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-0.87%)
CNERGY 7.13 Decreased By ▼ -0.12 (-1.66%)
FCCL 41.46 Decreased By ▼ -1.01 (-2.38%)
FFL 15.34 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-0.71%)
FLYNG 25.69 Increased By ▲ 0.46 (1.82%)
HUBC 131.92 Decreased By ▼ -1.54 (-1.15%)
HUMNL 14.20 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-1.39%)
KEL 4.62 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-3.55%)
KOSM 6.21 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-2.05%)
MLCF 51.13 Increased By ▲ 2.09 (4.26%)
OGDC 213.33 Increased By ▲ 2.96 (1.41%)
PACE 6.70 Increased By ▲ 0.27 (4.2%)
PAEL 41.47 Decreased By ▼ -1.02 (-2.4%)
PIAHCLA 16.72 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-1.01%)
PIBTL 8.67 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-2.8%)
POWER 10.90 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (1.58%)
PPL 176.76 Decreased By ▼ -1.30 (-0.73%)
PRL 35.64 Increased By ▲ 0.40 (1.14%)
PTC 24.82 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.04%)
SEARL 97.32 Increased By ▲ 0.49 (0.51%)
SILK 1.12 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.9%)
SSGC 31.46 Decreased By ▼ -0.43 (-1.35%)
SYM 18.03 Increased By ▲ 0.31 (1.75%)
TELE 8.26 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.6%)
TPLP 11.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.16 (-1.35%)
TRG 60.06 Decreased By ▼ -3.21 (-5.07%)
WAVESAPP 11.53 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-0.95%)
WTL 1.49 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
YOUW 3.91 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.76%)
AIRLINK 185.82 Decreased By ▼ -2.66 (-1.41%)
BOP 12.59 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-0.87%)
CNERGY 7.13 Decreased By ▼ -0.12 (-1.66%)
FCCL 41.46 Decreased By ▼ -1.01 (-2.38%)
FFL 15.34 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-0.71%)
FLYNG 25.69 Increased By ▲ 0.46 (1.82%)
HUBC 131.92 Decreased By ▼ -1.54 (-1.15%)
HUMNL 14.20 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-1.39%)
KEL 4.62 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-3.55%)
KOSM 6.21 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-2.05%)
MLCF 51.13 Increased By ▲ 2.09 (4.26%)
OGDC 213.33 Increased By ▲ 2.96 (1.41%)
PACE 6.70 Increased By ▲ 0.27 (4.2%)
PAEL 41.47 Decreased By ▼ -1.02 (-2.4%)
PIAHCLA 16.72 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-1.01%)
PIBTL 8.67 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-2.8%)
POWER 10.90 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (1.58%)
PPL 176.76 Decreased By ▼ -1.30 (-0.73%)
PRL 35.64 Increased By ▲ 0.40 (1.14%)
PTC 24.82 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.04%)
SEARL 97.32 Increased By ▲ 0.49 (0.51%)
SILK 1.12 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.9%)
SSGC 31.46 Decreased By ▼ -0.43 (-1.35%)
SYM 18.03 Increased By ▲ 0.31 (1.75%)
TELE 8.26 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.6%)
TPLP 11.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.16 (-1.35%)
TRG 60.06 Decreased By ▼ -3.21 (-5.07%)
WAVESAPP 11.53 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-0.95%)
WTL 1.49 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
YOUW 3.91 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.76%)
BR100 11,985 Decreased By -37.2 (-0.31%)
BR30 35,923 Decreased By -207 (-0.57%)
KSE100 114,528 Increased By 198 (0.17%)
KSE30 35,699 Increased By 86.5 (0.24%)

WASHINGTON: Pfizer’s anti-Covid pill Paxlovid is helping stave off hospitalizations and deaths amid the United States’ latest wave of infections, a senior White House official said Wednesday.

Demand for the treatment has soared, with a four-fold increase over the past month and an estimated 20,000 prescriptions being written every day, White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha told reporters in a press call.

“I think that is actually a really important reason why, despite this very substantial increase in infections, we have not seen a commensurate increase in deaths,” he said.

“We have seen hospitalizations rise, but again, not as much as one would have expected at this point, despite the fact that hospitalizations do lag. When you look at ICU care, the rate of ICU hospital admissions is much lower than what one would expect.”

President Joe Biden’s administration last month embarked on an aggressive push to expand access to the oral antiviral at tens of thousands of locations across the country. Omicron’s subvariants have driven daily new cases to 94,000, a three-fold increase over the last month, with hospitalizations running at 3,000 a day, and deaths at around 275.

Paxlovid, a combination of two drugs, both taken orally over five days, was shown in a clinical trial to reduce hospitalizations and deaths among at-risk people by almost 90 percent. Concerns have been raised about “Paxlovid rebound” — in which some patients clear the virus while on the treatment, but test positive after completing their course.

Jha said the government was studying the issue closely, “but I think it is not leading to people getting particularly sick.” The rate of rebound during Paxlovid’s clinical trial was two percent, but the dominant variant at the time was Delta.

He also encouraged doctors to adopt a “relatively permissive” approach to prescribing the medicine, given the broad eligibility criteria for being high risk.

“You should not get excessively restrictive, we have plenty of supply right now,” he advised doctors.

Jha also urged Congress to quickly provide $22.5 billion in Covid funding so that the government could ensure the supply of next generation Covid vaccines, which are expected to protect against multiple variants.

Comments

Comments are closed.