According to an Israeli study, the medication has little benefit for patients aged between 40 and 65.
New research by Israeli researchers suggests that the Covid-19 pill, which is highly praised by WHO might not provide any benefit for people between 40-60. Pfizer’s Paxlovid medication has proved effective with those older than 65.
This study was published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. It involved 109,000 Paxlovid patients. The scientists analyzed different age groups and concluded that treatment didn’t improve conditions for patients between 40-65. If given within a few days of contracting Covid-19, it reduced senior hospitalizations by around 75%.
The analysis, however, is based on data obtained from the Israeli health system as opposed to observing patients in a randomized study with a control group – something which represents a departure from practices held as the standard for such research, AP pointed out.
As of now, Pfizer is not commenting on this.
Late last year, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Paxlovid for children and adults over 12 years who have chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. According to federal records cited in AP, more than 3.9 million prescriptions have been written for this medication since it was approved.
In the hopes of decreasing hospitalizations, the Biden administration is putting a lot of emphasis on Paxlovid. US authorities are said to have shelled out some $10 billion to procure the drug, which is being made available to the public at thousands of pharmacies through the government’s test-and-treat initiative.
White House spokesperson Kevin Munoz stated that Paxlovid has been shown to reduce hospitalizations in older people. AP said that the research has not yet been published in peer-reviewed journals.
The official was quoted as saying that the “Evidence is growing that Paxlovid can be used to benefit individuals aged 50-64.”
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