COVID-19 pill, Paxlovid, will be available by prescription

Health Canada authorized Pfizer’s COVID-19 oral antiviral pill, Paxlovid, earlier this week, and it will soon be available by prescription.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos held a press conference on Wednesday to provide updates about the treatment.

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“[Paxlovid is] an important new tool in our tool kit that will protect against severe outcomes hospitalization and death,” said Trudeau. “This will be a powerful tool to continue to keep people from getting extremely sick, but it needs to be used right, and it’s not a replacement for getting vaccinated, wearing masks for staying safe, or [physical distancing].”

He added that the government had signed a contract for one million courses of treatment, and the country has already received its first shipment of 30,000 courses.

Distribution to provinces and territories is underway, and another 120,000 treatments are scheduled for February and March.

Minister Duclos said Paxlovid would be available by prescription when it rolls out.

Both the prime minister and minister of health stressed the significance of getting vaccinated.

“[There are] doses for everyone to get vaccinated, to get their booster shots — so go do it no matter how. You may feel that you’re late, but better late than never. It is never too late to do the right thing, and the health workers will be helping you get vaccinated would much rather be giving you a vaccine than intubating you in the ICU.”

On Wednesday, Quebec reported 88 new COVID-19 deaths and over 6,000 new infections, while Ontario reported 4,100 hospitalizations and 60 COVID-19 new deaths.

The government also introduced PocketWell, a mobile app aimed at helping citizens deal with pandemic fatigue. “Using this app, Canadians can connect seamlessly to wellness together for confidential virtual sessions with social workers, psychologists, and other healthcare workers.”

It has been downloaded 11,500 times since its launch.

Editor’s Note: This story has been amended to include updated information from Health Canada on PocketWell downloads