
Pfizer's Paxlovid, an oral antiviral treatment, will be doubled in federal purchases by President Biden on Tuesday.
A total of 20 million therapeutic courses of the new pill will be purchased from Pfizer in the U.S. under this addition.
Paxlovid was recently approved for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of COVID-19 in patients over 12 years old.
Biden said in a speech on Jan. 4 that the pills would significantly reduce hospitalizations and deaths linked to COVID-19. He added, “They offer the potential to dramatically change the course of COVID-19.”
Pfizer announced in an announcement that 10 million people will receive the new treatment by the end of June, and the remaining 10 million will follow by the end of September.
“I’m pleased to say that on Christmas Eve, we shipped out the first batch of these pills that we purchased and received, and more will be shipped this week,” Biden said.
FDA approved Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine in August, and it is the only vaccine marketed by Pfizer-BioNTech with FDA approval.
Over a million new COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States on Monday, but this could be partly due to a delay in reporting cases over the holiday weekend.
5 Jan 2022
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