The first batch of a Covid-19 oral treatment – Paxlovid – has arrived in New Zealand.
Nirmatrelvir with ritonavir (Paxlovid) will be available next week for those who meet the criteria – including people who are immunocompromised or have pre-existing medical conditions.
Pharmac’s statement on Thursday said New Zealand would receive 60,000 Paxlovid treatment courses in 2022.
Meanwhile, molnupiravir (Lagevrio), another oral treatment for Covid is still undergoing Medsafe evaluation, Pharmac said.
READ MORE:
* What is Paxlovid? A Covid-19 pill designed to keep at-risk cases out of hospital
* Pharmac criticised over delayed delivery of antiviral drug to treat Covid-19
* Covid-19: South Auckland GPs call for new anti-viral drugs in battle against Omicron
Paxlovid is an anti-viral pill designed to prevent positive Covid-19 cases from ending up in hospital. It is prescribed to Covid-positive people and taken over a five-day course.
Pfizer’s medical director for Australia and New Zealand, Dr Krishan Thiru, said the treatment was primarily designed for those who had mild symptoms of the virus but a higher risk of ending up in hospital.
Pfizer/Supplied
The first batch of Paxlovid has arrived in New Zealand and will be available from next week.
Speaking to Radio New Zealand’s Morning Report on Thursday morning, Health Minister Andrew Little said the treatment would be available for people who are immunocompromised or have pre-existing health conditions such as diabetes or chronic respiratory conditions.
Little said Doctors will have the criteria next week and will be making assessments.
When asked about the eligibility for people with cancer, Little said they will still need to be assessed against the criteria.
Asked about unvaccinated people’s eligibility, Little said they will be eligible for the treatment if they meet the criteria.
Little said while the Covid outbreak was trending downwards in New Zealand, the treatment was one way of preparing for future outbreaks and different variants.
Stuff Circuit/Stuff
Health Minister Andrew Little says Paxlovid will be available for people who are immunocompromised or have pre-existing medical conditions.
According to Pharmac’s statement, a person must meet all five criterion to be prescribed Paxlovid or Lagevrio.
This includes being symptomatic with Covid-19, having symptoms within the past five days, and either being immunocompromised or having other risk factors for severe Covid-19.
Patients who are aged over 65 or are over 50 but not fully vaccinated, and Māori or Pasifika can have their age and ethnicity counted as a risk factor.
Meanwhile, Pharmac also announced it had negotiated an agreement with AstraZeneca for its pre-exposure prophylactic Covid-treatment which is given through two injections.
Tixagevimab with cilgavimab, supplied under the brand name Evusheld, is Pharmac’s first advance purchase agreement for a pre-exposure Covid treatment.
Pharmac said the treatment will be targeted at immunocompromised people.
An initial supply of 20,000 has been secured, with the option of an additional 20,000 courses, and Kiwis can expect to receive the treatment from mid-2022, Pharmac said.
The treatment is still pending Medsafe approval.
Covid-19: Pfizer’s oral treatment arrives, will be available next week & More New Zealand Latest News Update
Covid-19: Pfizer’s oral treatment arrives, will be available next week & More New Zealand Live News
All this news that I have made and shared for you people, you will like it very much and in it we keep bringing topics for you people like every time so that you keep getting news information like trending topics and you It is our goal to be able to get
all kinds of news without going through us so that we can reach you the latest and best news for free so that you can move ahead further by getting the information of that news together with you. Later on, we will continue
to give information about more today world news update types of latest news through posts on our website so that you always keep moving forward in that news and whatever kind of information will be there, it will definitely be conveyed to you people.
Covid-19: Pfizer’s oral treatment arrives, will be available next week & More New Zealand Trending News Today
All this news that I have brought up to you or will be the most different and best news that you people are not going to get anywhere, along with the information breaking news today of this news, you can get other types of news along with your country and city. You will be able to get information related to, as well as you will be able to get information about what is going on around you through us for free
so that you can make yourself a knowledgeable by getting complete information about your country and state and information about news. Whatever is being given through us, I have tried to bring it to you through other websites, which you may like
very much and if you like all this news, then definitely around you. Along with the people of India, keep sharing such news necessary to your loved ones, let all the news influence them and they can move forward two steps further.
Credit Goes To News Website – This Original Content Owner News Website . This Is Not My Content So If You Want To Read Original Content You Can Follow Below Links