Israel receives the first shipment of Pfizer anti-COVID pills next week – report
Israel has finalized an agreement to buy around 100,000 of Pfizer’s antiviral COVID-19 pills and is set to receive the first shipment in about a week, Channel 12 reported on Saturday.
The network said that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla this weekend to complete the purchase agreement. The anti-COVID pill will be available free of charge in Israel for those in high-risk groups, Channel 12 reported.
Patients will be able to take the drug at home to avoid the worst effects of the virus. The pill is said to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in high-risk groups by 90 percent.
Israel was an early leader in COVID-19 vaccinations, specifically Pfizers, after entering into an agreement with the pharmaceutical giant last year to receive a large number of vaccine doses before many other countries.
The US health authorities approved the use of the Pfizer pill on Wednesday, followed by authorization for a similar drug from Merck a day later. But Pfizer̵[ads1]7;s drug, Paxlovid, is almost certainly the preferred option because of its mild side effects and superior efficacy, including a nearly 90% reduction in hospitalizations and deaths among patients most likely to get serious illness.
“Efficiency is high, side effects are low and it’s oral. It checks all the boxes,” said Dr. Gregory Poland of the Mayo Clinic.
The pill is being identified as a faster and cheaper way to treat early COVID-19 infections, although initial supplies are limited. All previously approved drugs for the disease require an IV or an injection.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to attend a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on December 19, 2021. (Abir Sultan / Pool / AFP)
The US Food and Drug Administration approved Pfizer’s drug for adults and children 12 years of age and older with a positive COVID-19 test and early symptoms that face the highest risk of hospitalization. It includes the elderly and those with conditions such as obesity and heart disease, although the drug is not recommended for patients with severe kidney or liver problems. Children who qualify for the drug must weigh at least 88 pounds (40 kilograms).
The pills from both Pfizer and Merck are expected to be effective against Omicron because they do not target the nail protein where most of the variant’s worrying mutations are located.
Both pills work to prevent the virus from multiplying; The Merck pill by introducing errors in the genetic code of the virus, and the Pfizer pill by inhibiting viral replication in the early stages.
Pfizer’s drug is part of a decades-old family of antiviral drugs known as protease inhibitors, which revolutionized the treatment of HIV and hepatitis C. The drugs block a key enzyme that viruses need to multiply in the human body.
Pfizer currently has 180,000 treatment courses available worldwide, with approximately 60,000 to 70,000 allocated to the United States. The company said it expects to have 250,000 available in the United States by the end of January.
Federal health authorities are expected to ration early shipments to the hardest-hit parts of the country. Pfizer said the small supply is due to production time – currently about nine months. The company said it could halve production time next year.
The US government has agreed to buy enough Paxlovid to treat 10 million people, and it will be given free of charge to patients. Pfizer said it is on track to produce 80 million lanes globally next year, under contracts with the UK, Australia and other nations.
This image provided by Pfizer in October 2021 shows the company’s COVID-19 Paxlovid pills. (Pfizer via AP)
The FDA based its decision on the company’s results from a 2,250 patient study that showed that the pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by 89% when given to people with mild to moderate COVID-19 within three days of symptoms.
Less than 1% of patients taking the drug were hospitalized, and no one died at the end of the 30-day study period, compared with 6.5% of patients admitted to the dummy pill group, which included nine deaths.
The United States will pay around $ 500 for each treatment from Pfizer, which consists of three pills taken twice daily for five days. Two of the pills are Paxlovid and the third is another antiviral drug that helps increase the levels of the main substance in the body.
