Spanish Ministry of Health begins to distribute Pfizer's anti-Covid pill

Spain’s Ministry of Health has now begun to distribute the first 11,900 doses of Paxlovid to the regional governments. This is the anti-Covid pill produced by Pfizer, and it is the first of its type to be distributed in the country. Health Minister Carolina Darias said on Monday that enough will have been supplied in the next few days to cover the 50,000 treatments which are expected to be needed in the foreseeable future.

Paxlovid is the oral medication which has produced the best results against Covid, showing 89 per cent effectiveness in reducing the risk of hospitalisation or death in patients who have mild symptoms but are at risk of the illness becoming more serious. This is a similar rate to the medications administered intravenously and is higher than the other type of pill, Merck’s Molnupiravir, which has also been approved by the European Medications Agency. The health authorities say that studies indicate that Paxlovid seems to be effective against variants such as Omicron.

Another benefit is that as this treatment is taken orally, it will free up more hospital beds which would otherwise be taken up by patients with Covid.

Paxlovid should be taken as soon as possible after a Covid diagnosis and within five days of the first symptoms appearing, which is why proper diagnosis is so important. The pills can be prescribed by GPs or hospital doctors.

Paxlovid works by reducing the ability of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to multiply in the body. It is a combination of a new molecule, PF-07321332, and ritonavir, an antiretroviral drug used to combat HIV, which are administered as separate pills. The active ingredient PF-07321332 slows down the action of an enzyme which is needed for the virus to reproduce, and ritonavir is a protease inhibitor which makes PF-07321332 remain in the body for longer.