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Health Minister François Braun announced that “conditional prescriptions” for Paxlovid could be made as early as December 10.
COVID-19 – A « perfectly effective medicine » against the new variant of Omicron BQ 1.1 which is rampant in France. Brigitte Autranthe president of the Committee for monitoring and anticipating health risks (Covars, the new “Scientific Council”), underlined the effectiveness of the Paxlovid against the Covid-19 during a press conference this Friday, December 9 on the triple epidemic of “coronavirus, flu and bronchiolitis” that affects the country.
“This variant remains totally sensitive to this drug that the minister told you about, which is Paxlovid”, a recalled the immunologist, recommending it for “people who respond poorly to the vaccine because of their immune deficiency…)”. A little earlier, the Minister of Health François Braun indeed assured that a “conditional order” for this treatment may be prescribed from this Saturday, December 10 by the attending physician.
A treatment for vulnerable populations
“I have taken several steps to facilitate the use of this medication. As of tomorrow, prescriptions can be made by attending physicians on a preventive basis, for a period of three months., he detailed. Measures aimed at “facilitate the rapid taking of medication for the most vulnerable people” and contaminated.
Concretely, this means that the attending physicians will be able to prescribe the drug preventively to people considered to be at risk, but this treatment will only be delivered on the condition that the patient catches the virus, and tests positive.
In addition to these “conditional orders” intended for the vulnerable public, the Minister announced the setting up of a telephone support service. This will be open “to healthcare professionals who have specific questions about this treatment. »
Paxlovid, prescribed in the event of proven Covid, unlike the vaccine, is an antiviral: its objective is to directly target the virus in an infected person. In this case, it is a particularly simple treatment for the patient since it can be taken at home, with a glass of water, on simple prescription from a general practitioner.
Still “too little prescribed”
It is still too little prescribed in France, had regretted Brigitte Autran at the end of November on France 2.“There were around 15,000 prescriptions during the month of October but it is still insufficient, it really needs to be used a lot more”she judged.
The scientist also detailed its effectiveness in preventing the risk of hospitalization: “It is an antiviral which blocks the replication (of the virus, note), which allows when it is taken in the first three or 5 days of the symptoms to prevent the evolution towards serious forms”.
“When you are at risk, a doctor following a patient at risk says to him: if you have symptoms, you get tested and I give you the prescription, and with proof that your test is positive, you can get the Paxlovid »she said about this antiviral of the American pharmaceutical group Pfizer.
The Covid-19 epidemic, which experienced a brief lull in France after a wave in early autumn, is starting up again. The BQ1.1 variant “is not without risk for the most fragile people” et « over 1,000 people are now hospitalized with Covid in critical care wards,” warned François Braun.
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