Beijing Community Hospital to Supply New Crown Oral Drug Paxlovid Still Requires Doctor's Prescription

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On the 26th, an online document said that Beijing will unify the distribution of the antiviral drug nematovir/ritonavir tablets (Paxlovid) to the community health service centers in the near future, and the community doctors will be trained to guide the new crown patients in their districts to take it for antiviral treatment.

Paxlovid, packaged in a combination of nematovir and ritonavir tablets, is an oral drug for New Crown developed by Pfizer in the United States and imported and distributed by China Pharmaceuticals in the mainland. According to the Pfizer pivotal clinical trial, Paxlovid reduces the risk of hospitalization and death by 89%.

On the afternoon of the 26th, there are already Beijing community health centers that have received the relevant training notice. “Community doctors on our side have just received the training notice, but it is uncertain when the training will be launched, when the community will get the corresponding drug and how much the quota will be.” A Xicheng District Community Health Service Center staff told reporters.

The office staff of a community health service center in Chaoyang District told reporters that although Paxlovid has not yet arrived, the prescription right of the drug will indeed be sunk to the community, and patients can subsequently purchase it through their medical insurance. “This drug is still a prescription drug, if there is no antigen or nucleic acid positive proof and doctor’s prescription, only in the name of ‘prevention’ and ‘backup’, you still can not come to the community hospital to prepare the drug. “

In addition, the staff also mentioned that the number of Paxlovid expected to be subsequently supplied to each primary hospital is limited, for communities with a high number of elderly people, even if priority is given to confirmed senior citizens and other people at high risk of severe new coronary heart disease.

Currently, Beijing is still at the peak of neo-coronary infections and severe illnesses, and the stockpile of neo-coronary therapeutic drugs in some public hospitals is in a tight balance. The director of the department of respiratory and critical care medicine of a tertiary general hospital in Beijing told China Business News that at present, the hospital’s oral drugs for new coronary can basically meet the demand for life-saving treatment. In addition, for people at risk of critical progression, Paxlovid is most effective when used within the first 3 to 5 days of having symptoms. For people admitted to the hospital with critical care hospitalization, the best time to administer the drug may have been missed.

“If the new crown oral drug can be sunk to the community, it may be effective in alleviating the current situation of crowded medical resources.” The doctor said, on the one hand, when patients can get the new crown treatment drugs in the first time, can reduce the anxiety of their families, shorten the course of patients and reduce the probability of high-risk people to develop new crown serious illness, on the other hand, the second and third level hospital emergency outpatient registration volume will also be reduced, which in turn can free up more medical resources.

In addition, the doctor mentioned that since Paxlovid and some medications for underlying diseases cannot be taken at the same time, doctors need to know patients’ individual medication records when prescribing. Family physicians and primary care providers often have a record of the underlying health conditions of people at high risk in that community, and are expected to be more efficient in dispensing medications at community pharmacies.

In March this year, Paxlovid was officially included in the ninth edition of China’s diagnosis and treatment plan. The protocol also specifies that Paxlovid is indicated for adults and adolescents (12-17 years old, weight ≥40kg) with mild and common forms of the disease within 5 days of onset and with high risk factors for progression to severe disease.