Page 15 - HOH

Finance
Minister
Friday shares details
January 14, 2022 of national
T: 582-7800 budget 2022
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COVID-19 pill rollout stymied by shortages as omicron rages

By MATTHEW PERRONE well against the variant.
AP Health Writer "This should be a really joy-
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two ous time because we now
brand-new COVID-19 pills have highly effective antivi-
that were supposed to ral pills," said Erin McCreary,
be an important weapon a pharmacist and admin-
against the pandemic in istrator at the University of
the U.S. are in short supply Pittsburgh Medical Center.
and have played little role "Instead, this feels like the
in the fight against the omi- hardest and most chaotic
cron wave of infections. stretch of the pandemic."
The problem is that produc- The pills — and other COV-
tion is not yet at full strength ID-19 drugs, for that mat-
and that the pill considered ter — are being carefully
to be far superior, Pfizer's, rationed, reserved for the
takes six to eight months to highest-risk patients.
manufacture. "January is going to be a
While the supply is expect- terrible month with a million
ed to improve dramatically cases a day," said University
in the coming months, doc- of North Carolina virologist
tors are clamoring for the Dr. Myron Cohen. "Most
pills now, not just because people will do perfectly Associated Press
omicron is causing an ex- well, but we have to select ministration authorized the disease and death when and thus could reduce the
plosion of cases but be- out the people who won't two pills from Pfizer and given shortly after symp- burden on hospitals.
cause two antibody drugs and give them the drugs Merck late last month toms appear. They are the
that were once the go-to we have available." based on studies showing first COVID-19 treatments Continued on Page 2
treatments don't work as The Food and Drug Ad- they cut the risk of severe patients can take at home,