anti-Covid pill clearance and test rush

Published on : 23/12/2021 – 02:18

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A treatment against Covid-19 from the Pfizer laboratory, called Paxlovid, was urgently authorized on Wednesday in the United States, where the population is flocking to test centers before the end of the year holidays threatened by the Omicron variant.

The American Medicines Agency (FDA) on Wednesday December 22 emergency authorized the pill against Covid-19 from the Pfizer laboratory. “This authorization provides a new tool to fight Covid-19 at a crucial time in the pandemic,” said FDA official Patrizia Cavazzoni, quoted in a statement.

US President Joe Biden hastened to greet in a statement this “good news” which allows to garnish “the medicine cabinet of the country”. The White House intends to procure 250,000 treatments from January, and 10 million in total.

This antiviral drug can be administered to high-risk patients aged 12 and over, specifies the FDA, which however emphasizes that vaccines remain the first line of defense against the pandemic.

Pfizer’s treatment, marketed as Paxlovid, consists of a combination of two pills taken twice a day for five days, upon diagnosis and within five days of onset of symptoms. It can reduce hospitalizations and deaths in at-risk people by 88% when taken within the first five days after symptom onset, according to clinical trials.

Pfizer also announced that its antiviral treatment should remain effective against Omicron, a new highly transmissible variant.

Testing rush

The priority of Americans, however, remained on Wednesday to find tests, in particular for those who are preparing to meet with their families for the end of the year celebrations. The lines are stretching out in front of the test centers in the United States, and some pharmacy chains or even the e-commerce giant Amazon have decided to ration purchases for lack of sufficient stocks.

The Biden administration, which promises to distribute 500 million free tests but only from January, nevertheless denies having anticipated the situation badly. “No, I don’t think it’s a failure,” said Joe Biden in an interview that aired Wednesday night on ABC.

However, the health authorities recommended to avoid too many gatherings, and to privilege the festivities in small groups, between vaccinated people. “If you are tested, and if you know where you are with vaccines,” there is “no reason why you can’t get together with family and friends,” Joe Biden told ABC.

Some localities have decided to temporarily close schools or set up a vaccination pass – in Washington, the federal capital, where it will be mandatory from January to be immunized to go to a café, a restaurant or a gym. sport.

The high mass of electronics and technologies in Las Vegas, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), sees its big face-to-face return, scheduled for early January, compromised. Many large companies have decided to follow suit or cancel their presence.

With AFP

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