PORTLAND, Ore. — A newly approved COVID-19 treatment pill is now available at certain locations in the Portland metro area.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Merck's antiviral pill last December for for adults with early symptoms of COVID-19 who face the highest risks of hospitalization.
AFC Urgent Care clinics in the Portland metro area received it's first allotment of the pills earlier this week and started prescribing them to qualifying patients.
Dr. Andy Miller with AFC said adults with underlying health conditions and people over the age of 65 qualify for the treatment.
"The clinical trials were very compelling that this medicine cuts down the risk of hospitalization and death by 50% in the right patient populations," Miller said.
Dr. Miller said some patients taking the treatment initially didn't even know it was an option.
"It's four pills, twice a day for five days," Dr. Miller said. "We are able to dispense all 40 pills in a bottle and we hand it off to patients who qualify at the end of their visit."
The pills are free for patients because the federal government has already covered the $700 cost for each bottle as part of President Joe Biden's Test-to-Treat program.
"What we learned over the last few years is COVID is not going away and we need strategies to cope with it and get back to normal life," Dr. Miller said.
Merck's antiviral pill was also allotted to Rite Aid and Walgreens locations, according to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), but it's unclear when that they will become available.
Dr. Paul Cieslack with OHA said the new treatment is great, but there are some limitations.
"It can't be given to children and can't be given to pregnant women," Cieslack said. "With those caveats, if that's the pill that's given to you, I would recommend it."
He added that Pfizer has also developed a COVID pill called Paxlovid, which has close to a 90% success rate in keeping people out of the hospital.