30,000 COVID treatment courses unused amid B.C. doctor shortage
CTV
There are 30,000 rounds of the COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid in pharmacies and storage locations in British Columbia, with only 2,500 ever dispensed in the province, CTV News has learned. The situation has been blamed in part on the shortage of doctors.
There are 30,000 rounds of the COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid in pharmacies and storage locations in British Columbia, with only 2,500 ever dispensed in the province, CTV News has learned. The situation has been blamed in part on the shortage of doctors.
The anti-viral tablets, which must be taken for five days, are only approved for certain people considered to be at higher risk of serious illness from the virus: those deemed extremely clinically vulnerable, Indigenous people over 50, the unvaccinated over 50, and those 70 or older with chronic conditions.
The medication must begin within five days of the onset of mild-to-moderate symptoms, and also requires a positive COVID-19 test, either via lab-based PCR methods or the at-home rapid tests available for free at many pharmacies.
“A large supply-to-dispense ratio does not necessarily reflect underutilization or lack of access to the treatment,” the Ministry of Health wrote in an email outlining the statistics.
“There are reasons why Paxlovid may not be a good choice for some people, such as some pre-existing conditions and multiple interactions with other medications.”
But CTV News has spoken to several frontline doctors expressing concern that due to massive demand and fewer physicians, they aren’t able to see patients within the five-day window; something they find particularly worrisome at a time the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has been growing and British Columbians continue to die after becoming infected.
In addition to issues around timely access to an assessment, the doctors also expressed frustrations that a special form required to authorize a prescription of Paxlovid is needlessly complex and involved, taking up to 20 minutes to research, complete and fax to a pharmacy.
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