WHO recommends the use of Paxlovid in the treatment of COVID-19 patients

Speaking in the medical journal BMJ, experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the drug Paxlovid Pfizer is a “better choice” for the treatment of unvaccinated people, the elderly or people with no immunity to COVID-19.

WHO also recommends (to a lesser extent) conditional use antiviral drugs Remdesivir is manufactured by the US biotech company Gilead for patients in this group. Previously, WHO recommended against using this drug.

According to WHO experts, Paxlovid better prevents hospital admissions than currently available drugs, causes less concern than molnupiravir and is easier to use than intravenous remdesivir and other drugs. monoclonal antibodies.

The WHO made this new recommendation based on the results of two recent trials involving nearly 3,100 patients. The results showed that the oral tablet Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospitalization by 85%. The results of the trial also showed no major difference in the number of deaths, while there was little or no risk of serious consequences leading to discontinuation of the drug.

This new WHO recommendation applies only to people aged 18 years and over, not to pregnant or lactating women, nor to COVID-19 patients at low risk of severe illness.

WHO experts have not yet made any recommendations on the use of drugs for patients with severe COVID-19 because there are not enough data to confirm.

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