CORONAVIRUS
Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
January 3, 2022
Explainer: New easy-to-use COVID-19 pills come with a catch
By Tom Murphy
The Associated Press
ewly infected COVID-19 patients have two new
treatment options that can be taken at home.
But that convenience comes with a catch: The
pills have to be taken as soon as possible once symptoms
appear.
The challenge is getting tested, getting a prescription,
and starting the pills in a short window.
U.S. regulators authorized Pfizer’s pill, Paxlovid, and
Merck’s molnupiravir in December. In high-risk patients,
both were shown to reduce the chances of hospitalization
or death from COVID-19, although Pfizer’s was much
more effective.
A closer look:
Who should take these pills?
The antiviral pills aren’t for everyone who gets a
positive test. The pills are intended for those with mild or
moderate COVID-19 who are more likely to become
seriously ill. That includes older people and those with
other health conditions like heart disease, cancer, or
diabetes that make them more vulnerable. Both pills were
OK’d for adults while Paxlovid is authorized for children
ages 12 and older.
Who shouldn’t take these pills?
Merck’s molnupiravir is not authorized for children
because it might interfere with bone growth. It also isn’t
recommended for pregnant women because of the
potential for birth defects. Pfizer’s pill isn’t recommended
for patients with severe kidney or liver problems. It also
may not be the best option for some because it may
interact with other prescriptions a patient is taking. The
antiviral pills aren’t authorized for people hospitalized
with COVID-19.
What’s the treatment window?
The pills have to be started as soon as possible, within
Pfizer via AP
Merck & Co. via AP
N
EARLY EFFICACY. Pictured are Merck & Co.’s new antiviral medication molnupiravir (left) and Pfizer’s COVID-19 Paxlovid pills (right). Newly
infected COVID-19 patients have two new treatment options that can be taken at home. But that convenience comes with a catch: The pills have to be
taken as soon as possible once symptoms appear.
five days of the start of symptoms. Cough, headache, COVID-19 test and prescribe the pills all in one visit. They
fever, the loss of taste or smell, and muscle and body aches already do this in many states for flu or strep throat.
are among the more common signs. The Centers for
Will the pills work for the omicron variant?
The pills are expected to be effective against omicron
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers a website to
because they don’t target the spike protein where most of
check your symptoms.
Dr. Cameron Wolfe, an infectious disease specialist at the variant’s worrisome mutations reside. The two pills
Duke University Hospital, advises getting a test as soon work in different ways to prevent the virus from
as you have symptoms of COVID-19.
reproducing.
“If you wait until you have started to get breathless, you
Are there other options for
new COVID-19 patients?
have already to a large extent missed the window where
Yes, but they aren’t as easy to use as a pill: They are
these drugs will be helpful,” Wolfe said.
given by IV or injection, typically at a hospital or clinic.
Where can I get the pills?
You’ll need a prescription first from a doctor or other Three drugs provide virus-fighting antibodies, although
authorized health worker. The U.S. government is buying laboratory testing suggests the two aren’t effective
the pills from Merck and Pfizer and providing them for against omicron. British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline’s
free, but supplies will be limited initially. They’ll be antibody drug appears to work, and officials say they are
shipped to states where they will be available at working to increase the U.S. supply. The only antiviral
drugstores, community health centers, and other places. drug approved in the U.S., remdesivir, is for people
Treatment lasts five days.
hospitalized with COVID-19.
Some pharmacists may be able to administer a quick
AP Health Writer Matthew Perrone contributed to this report.
Explainer: How will Biden’s COVID-19 test giveaway work?
By Darlene Superville
The Associated Press
ASHINGTON — President Joe
Biden
says
the
federal
government will buy half a
billion COVID-19 rapid test kits and
distribute them free of charge to people to
use at home. But despite the high public
demand for tests, it will still be several
more weeks before these kits are available
to be shipped. The administration is still
working on details for how the program
will work.
W
Does the government have the tests?
Not yet. At press time, the departments
of Defense and Health and Human
Services were “executing on what’s called
an ‘accelerated emergency contract,’”
according to White House press secretary
Jen Psaki. The contract is expected to be
signed soon.
When will the test kits be delivered?
The first delivery is expected in early
January. All 500 million kits will not
arrive at the same time but instead will be
delivered in batches.
Pandemic mystery: Scientists focus on COVID’s animal origins
Continued from page 7
animals such as big cats, otters, and
non-human primates; farm-raised mink;
and white-tailed deer.
Most got the virus from people,
according to the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), which says
that humans can spread it to animals
during close contact but that the risk of
animals transmitting it to people is low.
Another fear, however, is that animals
could unleash new viral variants. Some
wonder if the omicron variant began this
way.
“Around the world, we might have
animals potentially incubating these
variants even if we get (COVID-19) under
control in humans,” said David O’Connor,
a virology expert at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. “We’re probably not
going to do a big giraffe immunization
program any time soon.”
Worobey said he has been looking for
genetic fingerprints that might indicate
whether omicron was created when the
virus jumped from humans to an animal,
mutated, and then leaped back to people.
Experts say preventing zoonotic disease
will require not only cracking down on
illegal wildlife sales but making progress
on big global problems that increase risky
human-animal contact, such as habitat
destruction and climate change.
Failing to fully investigate the animal
origin of the virus, scientists said in the
Cell paper, “would leave the world
vulnerable to future pandemics arising
from the same human activities that have
repeatedly put us on a collision course with
novel viruses.”
“Toxic” politics
But further investigation is stymied by
superpower politics. Lawrence Gostin of
Georgetown University said there has
been a “bare-knuckles fight” between
China and the United States.
“The politics around the origins
investigation has literally poisoned the
well of global cooperation,” said Gostin,
director of the WHO Collaborating Center
on National and Global Health Law. “The
politics have literally been toxic.”
An AP investigation last year found that
the Chinese government was strictly
controlling all research into COVID-19’s
origins and promoting fringe theories that
the virus could have come from outside the
country.
“This is a country that’s by instinct very
closed, and it was never going to allow
unfettered access by foreigners into its
territory,” Gostin said.
Still, Gostin said there’s one positive
development that has come out of the
investigation.
WHO has formed an advisory group to
look into the pandemic’s origins. And
Gostin said that while he doubts the panel
will solve the mystery, “they will have a
group of highly qualified scientists ready
to be deployed in an instant in the next
pandemic.”
The Associated Press Health and Science Depart-
ment receives support from the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education.
The AP is solely responsible for all content.
My drugstore doesn’t
have any tests. how can I get a
free kit from the government?
You’ll go to a new government website to
request a kit, but the site won’t be
functional until after the first batch of test
kits have been delivered, Psaki said. She
said the process was being handled that
way to avoid creating more confusion for
the public. But the idea is that anyone who
wants a test kit would log onto this website
to request one.
“We’re obviously not going to put the
website up until there are tests available,”
Psaki said.
Which home test will I get?
It’s unclear. But Psaki noted that the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
has approved several different brands of
rapid home tests that are currently on the
market.
Will I be limited to one test
or can I request multiple?
To be determined, Psaki said.
Why is Biden buying these test kits?
It represents an acknowledgement by
the president that the administration
needs to do more to increase access to
COVID-19 testing, which is an important
tool to help slow the spread of the
coronavirus.
In cases where infected people show
symptoms or not, testing is the only way to
find out if they have the virus so they can
avoid being out and about and potentially
spreading disease.
But demand for test kits soared as the
holidays neared and people grew eager to
test themselves and their families before
travelling and as the easily transmissible
omicron variant spread rapidly in just a
few weeks to become the dominant strain
in the U.S.
Biden’s promise of 500 million test kits is
in addition to the administration’s earlier
pledge to send 50 million rapid tests to
community health centers across the
country.
How much will the program cost?
The purchase will be paid for with
money from the $1.9 trillion coronavirus
relief bill Biden signed into law in March,
the White House said. The exact cost will
be known soon.
Is there another way to
get a test kit for free
Biden said in a speech that starting in
January private insurers will cover the
cost of at-home testing. So people will have
the option of buying tests at a store or
online and then seeking reimbursement
from their health insurance provider.
The government will also provide access
to free at-home tests for people who may
not have health insurance, Biden said.
Think you’re
an organ and
tissue donor?
Not if you haven’t
told your family.
Talk to your family about
organ and tissue donation.
Talk to your family
about donating life.
For a free donor card
brochure, contact:
Donate Life Northwest
(503) 494-7888
1-800-452-1369
www.donatelifenw.org
Wondering when our next issue is published?
Sign up for e-alerts at <news@asianreporter.com>!