Has Paxlovid reached the people most in need of COVID treatment?

Elected officials and the health sector are currently advocating antivirals as well, as the country has largely abandoned mask obligations, physical distance, and other COVID-19 prevention strategies. However, the federal government does not say how many people have received these potentially life-saving medicines or whether they are being distributed fairly.

Pfizer’s Paxrovid Pill, along with Merck’s Molnupiravir, is intended to prevent mild or moderate COVID-19 vulnerable patients from getting sick or dying. More than 300 Americans still Die at COVID-19 every day.

The national supply numbers sporadically shared by the Biden administration are not the only data needed by local health authorities to give residents access to treatment. Recent federal changes designed to help large pharmacy chains such as CVS and Walgreens manage their supply efficiently have had unintended consequences. Currently, many public health workers are unable to confirm the dose shipped or used to the community. And they can’t tell if the most vulnerable residents meet their prescriptions as often as their wealthy neighbors.

KHN has repeatedly asked health and welfare authorities to share more detailed COVID-19 treatment data and explain how to calculate utilization, but not even the total number of people who have acquired Paxlovid.

So far, the most detailed accounting comes from the pharmaceutical companies themselves.Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla Recent financial results announcement An estimated 79,000 people received Paxlovid during the week ending April 22, up from 8,000 two months ago.

Unlike COVID-19 Vaccination or case, HHS does not track the race, ethnicity, age, or neighborhood of the person being treated. Vaccination numbers first published by a handful of states, Allowed KHN to reveal Only a few weeks after deployment, racial disparities will widen.Federal data for blacks, natives, and Hispanic Americans Died at a higher rate From non-Hispanic white Americans.

The Los Angeles County Public Health Department has been working to ensure that 10 million people, especially the most vulnerable, are treated. When the supply of Paxrovid was restricted in the winter, officials there confirmed that the pharmacies in the affected areas had sufficient stock, according to the ministry’s community health officer, Dr. Seira Klean. .. In April, the county launched its own Telemedicine service A model to evaluate and avoid resident treatment for free Many hurdles Makes treatment in commercial pharmacy-based clinics difficult for uninsured, rural, or disabled patients.

But without federal data, they don’t know how many county residents got the drug.

Real-time data shows whether neighborhoods are meeting prescriptions as expected during a surge, or which communities public health professionals should target for education campaigns. Without access to the federal system, Los Angeles County serves more residents than the health sector across the 40 states. Limited public inventory data Published by HHS.

The dataset has Information slice In some cases, information from a few months ago is displayed. Also, because the data does not include certain types of health care providers such as nursing homes and veterans health administration, county authorities cannot determine if a patient has taken the drug.

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Due to the very small amount of data available, Kurian’s team created their own survey and asked the provider to report the zip code of patients who received COVID-19 therapy. This survey has made it easier to see which pharmacies and clinics need more supplies.

But not everyone completes it, she said.

In Atlanta, Good Samaritan Health Center staff used detailed information to guide low-income patients to Paxlovid’s pharmacy. The center’s chief operating officer, Breana Raslop, said the drug wasn’t readily available during the first Omicron surge, but the next one will be a “new frontier.”

Ideally, her staff would be able to see “everything you need to know in one place,” including which pharmacies have medicines in stock, when they are open, and whether they offer home delivery. Said. Student volunteers built a similar database for COVID-19 testing in the center early in the pandemic.

Paxlovid and molnupiravir became available in the United States in late December. They soon became a reliable treatment for patients who were not hospitalized and replaced almost all monoclonal antibody infusions. Low effect Against the current COVID-19 strain.

The government has not recorded the use of Paxrovid by race or ethnicity, but researchers Tracked those trends For first generation injection.

Amy Fehan, CDC-funded research Oxner Health clinical research scientists in Louisiana found that black and Hispanic patients with COVID-19 were significantly less likely to receive these initial outpatient treatments than white and non-Hispanic patients. ..Other researchers have discovered it Language difficultyLack of transportation, and don’t know There was a cure Everything contributed to the gap. Feehan’s study, using data from 41 health systems, did not make a significant difference to inpatients who did not have to search for the drug themselves.

Patients at the Good Samaritan Health Center in Atlanta are often unaware that they can be treated if they are tested immediately, Raslop said. Some people think they are not qualified or cannot afford it. Others wonder if the pill works or is safe. “There are a lot of questions in people’s minds,” Raslop said, “whether it benefits them.”

“Our top priorities were transparency and data sharing,” he said when Dr. Jeffrey Klausner was an adjutant to the San Francisco Public Health Service. “It’s important to build trust and engage with the community.” Currently a professor at the University of Southern California, he says federal and state officials share the data they have and receive treatment. He said he needed to collect detailed information about his patients (race, ethnicity, age, severity of illness) so that he could correct the inequality.

Public health officials and researchers who spoke with KHN said the HHS authorities may not think the data are accurate or may not have enough staff to analyze the data. Dr. Derek Eisnor, Head of Drug Distribution for HHS, made a similar proposal at a meeting with state and local health authorities on April 27. A local official has asked federal agencies to share local numbers so that they can increase outreach in underutilized communities. Eisnor added that the report was “at best mediocre” because HHS didn’t have to say how much the provider would use, and didn’t think it was the role of his agency to share that information. rice field.

Eisnor should also allow state health departments to see local orders and usage from pharmacy chains like CVS, and authorities hope to soon publish weekly national data online. Said. However, counties like Los Angeles that have unsuccessfully requested access to the federal system do not have access to the data needed to focus on outreach activities or discover new inequality.

Spokesperson Tim Granholm said HHS is considering ways to share additional data with the general public.

Records of weekly meetings where HHS staff share up-to-date information on distribution plans and answer questions from public health workers, pharmacists, and clinicians are available. Post online Until March. Since then, the HHS media office has repeatedly refused to grant access to KHN, saying “recordings have not been published to the press.” According to Granholm, HHS wants to encourage open conversations during the meeting. He did not say what legal authority allowed the department to ban the media from public meetings. KHN has obtained public records at the request of the Information Disclosure Law.

White House executives said the Biden administration was trying to collect accurate data on the number of people receiving Paxrovid and other treatments, but that does not define success by how many people received it. Said not. Officials said the focus was on ensuring that treatment was available to the public and that doctors and other healthcare providers understand which patients were eligible for treatment.

You need to know where the pills are going, Fihan said. “We humanly need that data as soon as possible.”

Until then, Klean and her associates in Los Angeles County continue to “guess” where residents need more help. “Of course it would be easier if someone could provide us with a report containing that information,” she said.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national news room that produces detailed journalism on health issues. KHN, along with policy analysis and polling, is one of three major operational programs: KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is a donated non-profit organization that provides the public with information on health issues.

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How to take the test

Tampa Bay: Times can help you find Free public COVID-19 test site In the bay area.

Florida: To the Ministry of Health Website List test sites in the state. Some information may be out of date.

America: To the Ministry of Health and Welfare Website It can help you find a test site.

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How to get vaccinated

COVID-19 vaccines over 5 years old and booster shots of eligible recipients are administered in clinics, clinics, pharmacies, grocery stores, and public vaccination sites. In many cases, you can book your booking online. Here’s how to find a site near you.

Find a site: visit Vaccine.gov Search for vaccination sites by zip code.

Other help: Call the National COVID-19 VaccinationAssistanceHotline.

phone: 800-232-0233. Help is available in English, Spanish, and other languages.

TTY: 888-720-7489

Disability information and access lines: Call 888-677-1199 or send an email to [email protected].

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Booster Question: Are there any side effects? Why do you need it? Here is the answer to your question..

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