Pfizer's new drug is not a panacea

Pfizer's new anti-COVID-19 treatment, approved by Health Canada on Monday, is not the miracle pill that will end the fifth wave or the pandemic, although it is an effective weapon to help people at high risk of serious illness, says a public health expert.

Pfizer's new drug is not a panacea

"It won't control a wave, but it will still save patients," believes Benoit Mâsse, full professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Montreal.

The cost of such a treatment (between $700 and $900) and its embryonic distribution will not allow it to be present everywhere, in the short term. “This drug will mainly be used to prevent severe forms of COVID-19 in adults at risk,” he said. A person at risk usually knows his health condition. With a good rapid test as soon as the first symptoms appear, we can eventually administer the drug to more vulnerable patients.”

Mr. Mâsse sees the immediate usefulness of this kind of treatment in residences for the elderly, for example.

However, the professor warns that this drug will not replace vaccination.

“The vaccine is still the best weapon against COVID. Do not think that it will be enough to take this treatment if you come to feel the serious effects of COVID. When the severe forms of the disease are present, it is already too late. »

Paxlovid treatment will therefore not control this 5th wave of COVID-19. “However, it will make it possible to reduce hospitalizations and deaths of people at risk,” explains the expert.

Nor can the drug prevent community transmission of the virus. “In the treatment, we talk about the need to administer the drug quickly, explains Mr. Mâsse. It should be given at the first symptoms. So, we see the importance of rapid tests.”

Ottawa reached an agreement with Pfizer in December to procure one million doses of the Paxlovid treatment, which will be provided by prescription only. For now, treatment is reserved for adults with a mild or moderate form of COVID-19 who are at high risk of developing severe disease.

The treatment developed by Pfizer is, in fact, made up of two drugs, Paxlovid and Ritonavir. The latter drug is also used as an antiretroviral to control HIV infection.