Alberta patients and supporters want increased access to the COVID-19 antiviral drug Paxlovid

Chris Lindsey has been very careful not to get caught COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection) The last two years.

In late 2021, he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease requiring immunosuppressive prescription drugs.

In mid-2020, he had his gallbladder removed and found to be non-cancerous.

The surgery was done less than a year after he started treating thyroid cancer.

And in May 2018, he was diagnosed with stage 3 lymphoma.

The fear of catching COVID-19 was very real for Lindsey and his family.

“My family obviously feels numb because they don’t want to take anything home. They don’t want to make me sick,” said his father, Cochrane.

“They don’t want to bring it home. They’re okay, but I don’t want to get sick anymore.”

Reanne Booker, president of the Canadian Oncology and Calgary Oncology Nurses Association and nurse practitioner for palliative care, said COVID-19 is a significant threat to cancer patients.

“The case fatality rate of the general population is about 1-2 percent, but the case fatality rate of people with cancer is more than 25 percent when infected with COVID 19,” she says.

“Therefore, there are potentially significantly worse results in cancer patients.”

Lindsey had a full course of vaccination and booster shots, but for the immunocompromised Alberta, the possibility of him being hospitalized for COVID-19 infection was very real.

“It was a roller coaster emotionally,” he said.

And 10 days before Lindsey was due to be vaccinated for the fourth time, he caught COVID-19.

He began showing symptoms on Monday and tested positive on Thursday’s rapid antigen test.

“The cough was definitely different. It was very rough and difficult to clear, but not as bad as I heard from others who have it,” he told Global News. ..

“So I believe vaccination helped minimize that risk to me.”

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“Cancer patients and those taking immunosuppressive drugs do not always have an effective immune response to the COVID-19 vaccine,” Booker said. “Therefore, again, it is particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of COVID-19 infection.”

Enter antiviral treatment.

Gilead Sciences’ Remdesivir, Intravenous Antiviral Treatment, and Pfizer’s Oral Prescription Paxrovid are available to healthy Albertans Very specific criteria: Long-term care and supportive living Residents, immunocompromised Albertin, and Some unvaccinated or unvaccinated people..

To prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death, it should be taken within 5 days of the onset of symptoms.

“It blocks the replication of the virus in someone’s body,” Booker said. “We know if someone’s body has a large amount of virus that may be associated with a more serious illness.”

At the beginning of April, pharmacists were able to dispense prescriptions from AHS doctors directly to Paxlovid. The prescription requires a lab-confirmed test, a PCR test that the state restricted from the general public in January.

According to the state, molecular testing has “clinical risk factors for serious outcomes” and is only available to those who work and live in a “high risk environment.”

After COVID-19 was detected in his rapid test on Thursday night, Lindsey booked a PCR test online. On Friday, he was wiped with a cotton swab at the Richmond Diagnostic Center and within hours he received his results.

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After a series of calls, including screening for antiviral eligibility and telephone consultation with a doctor, Lindsey received a Paxrovid prescription.

“When I got the call, it was happening exactly as they said, so I was definitely starting to relax a little more,” Lindsey said.

A friend was able to receive a prescription from a nearby pharmacy, and on the fifth day of his condition, Lindsey began treatment with Paxlovid, one of the approximately 1,300 issued throughout the state.

According to Alberta Health officials, the state’s warehouses contain an additional 25,000.

Due to the combination of available supplies, lab test limits, confusing eligibility, and opaque processes, medical professionals like Booker want greater access to prescription antiviral drugs.

“It’s frustrating to know that these options are available and not fully used, and some of them may simply be a better education to inform the public about eligibility criteria and how to access them. Hmm, “she said.

“We are learning more and more about the benefits of Paxlovid and hope to see more access.”

On Wednesday, Health Minister Jason Copping announced that work was underway to allow doctors outside the state’s COVID-19 outpatient treatment program to prescribe Paxrovid.

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“My doctor has the tools and education to help me prescribe this medicine comfortably, and I’d like to announce soon that the prescription will be completely transferred to them,” he said. ..

Booker pointed out that this could be a challenge for some Alberta states.

“I don’t have a family doctor in Alberta, and I’m worried about the fairness of access to treatments and tests, as it is throughout the pandemic,” she said.

“I’m worried about people who don’t have a family doctor or who are too ill to navigate these processes because of their underlying illness.”

Booker also flagged potential problems if the patient tried to make an appointment with his doctor within that five-day period, but failed.

Dr. Dina Hinsho, Chief Medical Officer of Health Doctors, said the current eligibility criteria balance the risks and benefits of taking Paxrovid.

“It’s important to remember that deciding who can benefit most from this drug depends on the person who is currently at the highest risk of serious consequences,” Hinsho said Wednesday. ..

“It is important to consider what benefits the drug can bring and what the potential side effects are for any drug, including Paxrovid.

“Paxlovid is an additional line of defense that can help some people with COVID-19 infections.”

Lindsey is fortunate to be able to start a five-day course of Paxrovid treatment on the final day it would have been most effective.

“I didn’t get to the hospital. My view is whether it played a role in preventing the progression from getting worse, because I didn’t get worse from the day I started it,” he said. That said, the AHS process was “seamless.”

And he gave some simple advice to those who are qualified for antiviral drugs.

“Don’t wait. Just contact them.”

— Use files from Lauren Pullen in Global News