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There were zero deaths among the patients who received it. In Pfizer’s research trial, the treatment reduced the risk of hospitalization by about 90 percent among people who started it within three days of having symptoms. Ideally, the treatment should begin within five days of the first Covid symptoms.įor people who can get access to the pills and take them as prescribed, they may make all the difference. That’s why scientists expect the treatments will work even as the virus evolves. Current Covid treatments, like monoclonal antibodies, are typically administered in a hospital.Īnother advantage is that they do not attack the part of the virus that changes most with each new variant: the spike protein. One major advantage of the pills is that people can take them at home. So are a small percentage of younger Americans, like those who have had an organ transplant or are receiving some cancer treatments. Of course, the medical benefits will be even bigger than the psychological benefits for people who remain vulnerable to Covid.ĭeaths are predominantly occurring among the unvaccinated, although vaccinated Americans older than 65 - especially those with existing medical problems - are also at some risk. Once the treatments are widely available, they can offer reassurance, as a last line of defense against severe Covid. After nearly two years of pandemic living, returning to normal can be hard, especially with the genuine uncertainty about Omicron. For children, vaccinated and not, the risks are even smaller.īut I know that many Americans remain terrified of Covid. (which publish detailed statistics) the hospitalization rate is similar to that of a typical flu. The death rate for vaccinated adults under 50 is virtually zero, according to data from Minnesota and King County, Wash. In truth, the virus has already been largely defanged for most Americans, and it would be surprising if Omicron changed that. “These will be game-changing for our ability to control Covid worldwide in 2022,” Gandhi said. The agency has not yet said when its experts might vote on Pfizer. panel of experts this week voted narrowly - 13 to 10 - to recommend the approval of the Merck treatment. Merck’s version, which should be available sooner, reduced risk by 30 percent.Īn F.D.A. Pfizer’s version, which is likely to become widely available early next year, appears to be the more effective: It reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 85 percent in a research trial. The pills prevent the virus from replicating inside the body and are broadly similar to treatments that revolutionized H.I.V. (If you haven’t read my colleague Campbell Robertson’s story about the continuing crisis in schools - including mental health problems among children and exhaustion among teachers, nurses and janitors - it’s sobering.)īoth Pfizer’s and Merck’s treatments are pill regimens that people take for five days after a positive Covid test. Not only can they reduce serious Covid illness, but they can also reduce Covid fears and help society move back to normalcy, lessening the pandemic’s huge social and economic side effects. Two treatments are on the way - one from Pfizer and one from Merck - and they will have both medical and psychological benefits.
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In the simplest terms, they can help turn Covid into a more ordinary respiratory disease, similar to the common cold or flu, rather than one that’s killing about 1,000 Americans a day and dominating daily life for millions. Monica Gandhi of the University of California, San Francisco, told me, the treatments are “a huge deal.” And they are likely to be effective against the Omicron variant, many scientists believe, even if Omicron makes the Covid vaccines weaker at preventing infections. They have the potential to substantially reduce hospitalization and death. A new generation of Covid-19 treatments will soon be available, and they matter more than many people realize.