Pfizer & Merck...covid pill

[kadee79]

Looks like both are working on it...hope it pans out....

It’s been a year and a half since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and treatment options are still limited for people who don’t have a more severe form of the virus. While monoclonal antibody treatments are gaining in popularity, they’re technically only recommended for those who are considered high risk for serious complications of the virus.



But that may change in the future. Both Pfizer and Merck are working on a so-called “COVID pill” that could help treat people with the virus who aren’t at risk of developing severe illness. Meaning, if these medications work out, there could eventually be a drug available that you could take when you have COVID-19 that could work like Tamiflu does on the flu, says William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.



But what's the timeline for this pill? And will it be accessible? Here’s everything you need to know about the “COVID pill.”

www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-%e2%80%9ccovid-pill%e2%80%9d-pfizer-and-merck-are-each-developing/ar-AAOcbJc?ocid=msedgntp&li=BBnb7Kz

[happyhoix]

Hope it’s not like Tamiflu! I got the flu several years ago, called into my doctor and asked them to phone a prescription in for me, to the pharmacy near my house.

Doctor said I had to drive to his office, wait in the waiting room and do an office visit. Only his local office was closed fir two days (small town, we share a doctor) so I needed to drive 45 minutes there, and 45 minutes back. And I was feeling miserable.

What really convinced me not to go, though, was that I would have to sit in the waiting area, radiating flu germs to whatever sick or elderly patients were there, while waiting to be ‘worked in.’

I just did without.

It’s not like tamiflu is a drug that can get you high or anything fun.

Hopefully if we learned anything from Covid, it’s that telehealth should be an option whenever possible. Especially if we get a Covid pill - don’t make people come in to get it if they think they’re sick.

[pulmonarymd]

There are good reasons to test someone. It can be difficult to tell the difference between the flu, covid, and pneumonia, and treatment for one will not work for another, and there is the risk of developing resistance. I cannot tell you how many people call looking for an antibiotic because they are sick argue with us about getting tested for COVID, then test positive. Once COVID is endemic, testing is going to be an important thing to do to know which of the above you are dealing with.

[djAdvocate]

yeah, testing is going to long outlast vaccination en masse. testing will still be a thing years from now. disclaimer: my opinion.