While the number of daily cases of Covid increases significantly, raising fears of a ninth wave as the holidays approach, the government is betting on the “responsibility” of the French, by not opting for coercive measures.
During a press conference this Friday, Health Minister François Braun presented a new tool, announcing the establishment of a “conditional prescription” for the antiviral Paxlovid, which can be prescribed by your attending physician, starting this Saturday.
A measure confirmed by an order in the Official Gazette this Saturday, which allows private doctors to prescribe the antiviral “particularly during a follow-up visit.” Therefore, the recipe will be usable in the event of a positive test for Covid-19.
a protective order
A measure that allows, according to François Braun, “facilitate the rapid taking of the drug for the most fragile” and contaminated people. Therefore, treating physicians can, from now on, prescribe this antiviral to their risk patients as a preventive measure, in case of contamination.
As soon as these patients develop symptoms and their Covid infection is confirmed by a test, they will be able to get Paxlovid at the pharmacy, thanks to their “conditional prescription”.
Paxlovid, which has been shown to be effective, helps prevent progression to severe forms. Therefore, unlike the vaccine, the antiviral is prescribed in case of proven Covid.
“It is an antiviral that blocks the replication (of the virus, editor’s note), which, when taken in the first three or five days of symptoms, allows it to prevent evolution towards serious forms,” he had recalled at the end of November. the scientist at the head of the Health Risk Monitoring and Anticipation Committee (Covars), Brigitte Autran.
“When you are at risk, a doctor who follows a patient at risk tells him: if you have symptoms, you take the test and I will give you the prescription, and with the proof that your test is positive, you can get the Paxlovid”. she said.
still little prescribed
Available since January 28 in France and, despite its ease of use, Paxlovid is rarely prescribed by mouth. “There were around 15,000 prescriptions during the month of October, but it is still insufficient, you really need to use much more”, Brigitte Autran had judged.
The Covid-19 epidemic, which experienced a brief pause in France after a wave at the beginning of autumn, is starting again. “More than 1,000 people are already hospitalized for Covid in critical care units”, François Braun has also warned.
Source: BFM TV
