Posted on 02/09/2022 5:24:03 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis.– They’ve been called a ‘game-changer’ in treating COVID-19, but local healthcare workers say Wisconsin’s supply of coronavirus pills is largely going unused.
A challenge to prescribe
“It’s not as easy to get these pills out to people as you might think,” UW Health Hospitalist Dr. Bart Caponi told News 3.
When state hospitals and pharmacies got their first shipments of pills in January, Caponi expected they’d go quickly.
“They’re for people who are at the highest risk of becoming very sick from COVID, but haven’t become very sick just yet. They can really help a lot of people,” he explained.
What Caponi didn’t expect was that getting the pills to people who could benefit from them would be so complicated.
The two types of pills, approved for use in people who are COVID positive, but not hospitalized, prevent the virus from reproducing. They must be given within the first five days of symptom onset to be effective.
“So if there’s any delay in testing or getting your test results, that’s running the clock,” Caponi said.
Adding to the challenge: one of the pills interferes with several medications, while the other potentially causes birth defects.
However, for people who need them, they can be life-saving. Clinical trials have shown Pfizer’s Paxlovid pill prevents hospitalization and death in nearly 90% of high-risk patients.
The state’s current supply
“Equity becomes a key area to look at if a medication is scare,” said SSM Health’s Mo Kharbat, in a Zoom call with News 3. “We’re not seeing a level of scarcity that would require use to prioritize patients as to who should get this and who should not.”
Kharbat explains the biggest problem locally is that a lot of people don’t know these medications exist. As of February, SSM Health had only distributed 20% of its COVID pill supply.
Dozens of other Madison-area pharmacies have hundreds, if not thousands, of doses available. DHS has a map on its website of location that have either or both of the antiviral pills in stock. Click here to find options where you live.
Who qualifies & what to ask your doctor
So, how do you know if you’re a candidate for these pills?
“If you’re someone who’s at-risk for getting very sick from COVID, it doesn’t hurt to ask,” said Caponi.
People with underlying health conditions, like asthma, are some of the best candidates, but Caponi suggests anyone who feels sick should call their primary-care doctor while awaiting COVID test results.
“It’s also important to remember these pills are not a substitute for vaccination, of course,” said Caponi. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a cure.”
“It’s also important to remember these pills are not a substitute for vaccination, of course,” said Caponi. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a cure.”
Diana here: If these Commies could just SHOOT US ON SIGHT all of their problems would be solved! *SPIT*
Fauci said from the start ‘they’ were working on a pill form of the ‘vaccine’. And then Pfizer comes out with a ‘Covid pill.’ We know Pfizer lies - I suspect the pills are Vax 2.0.
The one that has high efficacy, Paxlovid, is the one with many drug interactions, and some of these are drugs that are quite common among “high risk” people. In most cases, you can just pause those medications for a few days while you take Paxlovid, but there are a couple you can’t. Definitely a drug to talk to your doctor about before deciding you want to take it.
Treatment ist jetzt verboten from the now fascist, Marxist Medico apparatchiks.
“Equity becomes a key area to look at if a medication is scare,”
Can't imagine why people are not lined up around the block to take this stuff.
Knowing what I now know about big pharma from what I have learned from various sources, I would not trust ANY new medication or “vaccine”.
Ivermectin could really help people even more.
Same with monoclonal antibodies.
I’m with you, Sister. My plan is to AVOID the VA for the next three years, get on Medicare and then visit a local horse doctor when I need to.
Yeesh!
I used to work with a woman who is now in her late 80’s. She was a dairy farmer before she retired, and worked for me in the Spring months at the Garden Center. (I still want to be Judy when I grow up!)
She said, ‘Why on Earth would I go to a Doctor? He’s only going to tell me that there’s something WRONG with me!’
After dealing with the VA for the past six years and them making A Big Deal out of slightly elevated blood pressure, and a ‘one tick below normal’ potassium level, (I take a daily supplement) I can see what she means! NOTHING ‘wrong with me’ is the least little bit life-threatening, but convincing me that it IS, pads Government coffers, I’m sure!
Take Fosamax or I could fall and break a hip and DIE.
Take the covid vax or I could catch Covid and DIE.
Take statins or I could have high cholesterol and have a heart attack and DIE.
Use sunscreen or I could get cancer and DIE.
Sigh……
Cases here in Iowa are falling rapidly, they dropped by 2/3’s in two weeks .
Assume and hope Wisconsin is following a similar path .
Hopefully the need for this drug won’t be a major issue very soon.
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