FACT FINDERS: Why timing is everything with Pfizer’s new COVID treatment pill

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - When it comes to Pfizer’s new COVID-19 treatment pill, timing is everything.

Data shows, Pfizer’s Paxlovid is highly effective but you need to take it right away. Dr. Sean Elliott with Tucson Medical Center explains why.

”After three days of active infection the pills rapidly lose their protectability. So, it is a gamechanger if we can get it in quickly enough,” he said.

Dr. Elliott says that means people need quick access to tests and results in order to get the pill within the first few days. He also says this pill comes at a time when the current go-to treatments for COVID are failing against Omicron.

”Unfortunately, it looks like the monoclonal antibodies against omicron are far less effective so we’re about to lose one of our weapons in the fight against COVID-19 as omicron takes over the country,” he said.

Dr. Elliott says Pfizer’s pill is expected to work well against omicron. That is because it does not target the spike protein where omicron has many mutations. Instead, Pfizer says it blocks an enzyme the virus needs to replicate. To learn more about how it works, just click here.

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