WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Use of Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 oral antiviral treatment Paxlovid has jumped 315% over the past four weeks, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Tuesday.
Nearly 115,000 courses of the pills were dispensed during the first week of May, a senior health official said. The White House said last month it was aiming to expand access to treatments like Paxlovid by doubling the number of locations at which they are available.
"In recent weeks we've gone from 20,000 sites with Paxlovid to approximately 35,000 and we'll keep working to increase availability," the official told reporters on a call, adding that 88% of the population lived within 5 miles (8 km) of a site.
A total of 668,954 courses out of the more than 2 million ordered by states, pharmacies and other providers were administered.
Paxlovid is approved to keep high-risk individuals with COVID-19 from becoming seriously ill. It is meant to taken for five days beginning shortly after symptom onset.
Providers ordered almost 1.8 million courses of Merck & Co's rival oral antiviral, molnupiravir, and 230,257 have been administered so far, the official added.
The amounts pale compared to overall supply with the U.S. currently having over 3.3 million Paxlovid courses and almost 3.2 million molnupiravir courses available, HHS data show.
