Over-85s and heart failure patients receive life-saving Covid drugs that reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by 89%
Patients with heart failure and those over 85 should receive Covid treatment that reduces the risk of hospitalization or death from the virus by 89 percent.
Previously, the drug, Paxlovid, was reserved for vulnerable patients with conditions that prevented them from responding to the vaccines.
These include people with blood cancers, kidney disease and organ transplant patients who are taking medications that suppress the immune system.
But now the government plans to make Paxlovid available as an extra layer of protection for more people at risk of dying or being hospitalized after contracting Covid.
Patients with heart failure and those over 85 are offered Covid treatment that reduces the risk of hospitalization or death from the virus by 89 percent
The treatment is a combination of two existing antiviral drugs, nirmatrelvir and ritonavir, and works by stopping the Covid virus from growing and spreading in the body.
As soon as possible after the patient tests positive for the virus, one dose of the treatment – consisting of two pink nirmatrelvir tablets and one white ritonavir tablet – is taken twice a day for five days.
The therapy has been shown to reduce the time people suffer from Covid symptoms by around a day and can even reduce the chance of a long Covid-19 spell, meaning Covid symptoms lasting longer than 12 weeks.
The NHS’s spending watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellent (NICE), is now preparing to give the green light to 1.4 million more people to access the drug. This will bring the number of people offered the treatment to more than five million.
Under the plans, people can use Paxlovid if they are over 85, live in a care home and over 70, have serious heart disease or are on the waiting list for organ transplants.
Previously, the drug, Paxlovid, was reserved for vulnerable patients with conditions that prevented them from responding to the vaccines
Those who can take Paxlovid can also pick up free lateral flow tests from their local pharmacy and should test themselves for Covid as soon as they start to feel unwell.
If the test is positive, they should call their GP, NHS 111 or hospital specialist for further advice.
Professor Azeem Majeed, head of primary care and public health at Imperial College London, said: ‘Covid is currently circulating, and although the situation is not as serious as it was three years ago, people in these groups are still panicking. risk.
‘Taking Paxlovid within a few days of showing Covid symptoms will reduce the risk of them needing to go to hospital or dying if they contract the virus. So it is positive that the government is making it available to more people.’