FRANKFURT, July 3 (Reuters) – Germany’s health minister said
on Sunday he will push for more prescriptions of Pfizer’s
oral COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid by family
doctors to reduce severe cases of the disease.
“A system involving family doctors will be prepared to
administer this far too rarely-used COVID life saver more
routinely,” he wrote https://twitter.com/Karl_Lauterbach/status/1543582226788634624
on Twitter on Sunday, adding that sufficient stockpiles were
available.
The pill, which won conditional European marketing approval
in January, is given to infected people who are at high risk of
progression to severe illness.
In his tweet, Lauterbach mentioned trial results that the
oral treatment course can cut the risk of hospitalisation in the
elderly by 90%, when taken early after infection.
Pfizer said on Thursday it is seeking full U.S. approval for
Paxlovid, which is currently available under an emergency use
authorization there.
Deaths and intensive care treatments after COVID infections
have been on the rise again in Germany since late June, driven
by more infectious subvariants of Omicron, after falling
steadily for about three months.
The drug was not found to ease symptoms among younger
adults.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz, a member of centre-left SPD
like Lauterbach, on Sunday said schools and non-essential
businesses would not be shut again if infection rates rose
significantly this year, but that face masks would play a bigger
role.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Toby Chopra)
