Should You Take Paxlovid?

Most adults in the United States have one condition or another that makes them a candidate for Paxlovid, which can cut the risk of a severe case of Covid. Obesity, diabetes, depression, heart conditions and dozens of other issues all put people at high risk, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And yet Dr. Davey Smith, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Diego, regularly gets calls from patients who were not able to get prescriptions, often because urgent care or primary care doctors denied their requests.

More than two years after Paxlovid became widely available in the United States, and in the middle of yet another summer surge, patients and doctors are still frequently confused about who qualifies for the medication and exactly how beneficial it might be.

It’s well-established that Paxlovid saves lives. But it can be costly, and it can interact with a lengthy list of medications. Some people avoid the drug, in part because they worry about experiencing a rebound case. One study found that only about 15 percent of people who were eligible for the medication took it when they had Covid.

“In my experience, it’s usually that the provider doesn’t have enough experience with it or enough time to want to go through somebody’s medication list,” Dr. Smith said. “So they just get told, ‘Oh, you’re going to be fine.’ And most of the time, they are fine. It’s just when they’re not, it can be really bad.”

Who should take Paxlovid?

Paxlovid is designed to prevent Covid from progressing into more severe disease. It is for people who have mild or moderate symptoms but are at risk of getting very sick. (Doctors can prescribe the drug to adults and children 12 and older who weigh over 88 pounds.)

The greater your risk for hospitalization or death from Covid, the stronger your case for taking Paxlovid.