If unvaccinated, Biden bets billions on Covid treatment as another surge threatens

Washington — After years of constant efforts to vaccinate Americans, President Joe Biden on a new Covid-19 treatment that will greatly help those he couldn’t convince. I’m spending almost $ 10 billion.

This is because the authorities haven’t finished the pandemic yet, the breakthrough case continues to raise issues, and many are unvaccinated, don’t trust Biden, or don’t like it. For people, it’s the latest sign that they won’t give up. ..

This week alone, the Biden administration has signed a $ 5.25 billion contract Pfizer We have agreed to pay $ 1 billion for monoclonal antibody treatment from GlaxoSmithKline for drugs to treat Covid infections.It will top the billions of dollars trading earlier this month Merck And Eli Lilly for their Covid drug.

Billions of dollars spent on pills to treat Covid infections six months when Biden called on Americans to “declare independence from the virus” during the “summer of freedom.” It’s far from what I expected to be within.

Treatments that have been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death bring the greatest benefit to one in five Americans who are not vaccinated and are at the highest risk of serious illness. increase.But there is vaccine immunity Reportedly Decline, just Fraction Of those who are eligible for boosters who have obtained additional shots, the drug may be increasingly needed by vaccination.

“Our vaccine is safe and very effective, but Covid stays there even if we can increase vaccination rates and boost people at the highest risk of serious illness,” he said. Dr. Celine Gounder, a disease expert, said. New York University advised on the transition to Biden.

How the pandemic will occur in the coming months will have significant political implications for the White House and Congressional Democrats who are trying to shift the focus of voters to the recently passed infrastructure bill.White House officials are causing Biden’s sagging Approval evaluation He blamed public fatigue and rising inflation because of the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic.

With tens of millions of Americans continuing to refuse vaccination, the drug is already to prevent the pandemic from overwhelming hospitals, closing schools and returning people to the point of avoiding travel and eating out. Give Biden one tool. ..

Government officials say they continue to focus on improving vaccination rates, but the Pfizer-Merck deal will provide adequate treatment to 15 million people by the end of next year if their medications are available. Will do clear Expected movement by the end of the year by the Food and Drug Administration.

The $ 10 billion spent on treatment this month is in addition to the $ 22.5 billion US spent on vaccines from Pfizer, Modana, Johnson & Johnson.

According to a well-known person, Biden saw how effective Pfizer was in a study published last week and instructed staff to order twice as much Pfizer as planned until the end of 2022. Increased orders to cover 10 million people. In conversation.

“This is positive news,” the president said in a statement on Thursday announcing a deal with Pfizer. But vaccines are still our strongest tool. “

Government officials say they expect more cases during the colder months as people head indoors and gather on holidays.

And in addition to encouraging people to get vaccinated, the administration now has to send a message about boosters as well. So far, only 36% of older people have been boosted, many of whom were first vaccinated and are now most vulnerable to serious breakthrough infections.

Cases are increasing and hospitals are reaching capacity, even before Americans go on vacation. Northeastern states have been particularly hit, including the following heavily vaccinated states: Vermont and New Hampshire, Cases have increased by 60% and 56%, respectively.

People who have not been vaccinated are significantly more likely to be hospitalized or die, but the drug may also benefit those who have been vaccinated. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said on Wednesday that the decline in vaccine efficacy between the elderly and residents of long-term care facilities led to hospitalization and emergency room admissions among the vaccinated elderly. He said he was facilitating the visit.

“The highest risk is for unvaccinated people, but adults over the age of 65 have more emergency outpatient visits and are now higher than the younger age group,” she told reporters. rice field.

At the same time, more and more cities, including Washington, DC, have lifted their mask obligations.

Despite billions of dollars in investment in Covid treatment, drugs pose challenges. Similar to Tamiflu for the treatment of influenza, the drug should be given within the first few days of the onset of symptoms. This means that people need to get test results immediately and receive a prescription for the drug from their doctor.

The treatments for GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly are very effective, but they are provided by IV drip, so patients must go to a hospital or infusion center to receive them.

Pfizer costs $ 529 per patient and Merck costs $ 700. This is much cheaper than if the patient was hospitalized, but more expensive than the vaccine that the US government costs about $ 20 to $ 30 per person.

Finally, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor of Biden, said the way to stop the pandemic is to stop the spread of the virus. This is what is best achieved with vaccines.

“Antiviral drugs are promising, but we must ensure that the population is vaccinated,” Forch said last week. “Antivirals, even if they are good, are not our first line of defense against Covid-19, because prevention is far more important than treating infections. Because we all know. “