Ontario government outlines guidelines for accessing COVID-19 antiviral Paxlovid

Days after Health Canada approved the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 oral antiviral Paxlovid, the Ontario government has released its guidelines for accessing the treatment.

According to a new Ontario government website, prioritization for the Paxlovid treatments will be given to people with the “highest risk of severe outcomes” such as adults who are immunocompromised regardless of vaccination status as well as unvaccinated individuals who are 60 and older, Indigenous individuals who are 50 and older, and those who are 50 and older with one or more pre-determined risk factors.

To access the treatments, the Ontario government is requiring a positive COVID-19 test and said the treatments needs to be administered within five days of symptoms showing.

Despite tightening up eligibility for PCR tests in recent weeks, the website said “steps” have been taken to make sure there is the capacity for testing including priority tests “for those most vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19 and those who may be candidates for COVID-19 therapies.”

After a positive test is confirmed, individuals were told to call their primary health care providers, Telehealth Ontario, or visit a COVID-19 clinical assessment centre. People were also urged to have a full list of medications on hand as well as disclose any other medical conditions as part of the screening.

RELATED: Health Canada approves Pfizer antiviral COVID-19 pill

The government emphasized not all people who meet the criteria will be able to get the drugs due to limited supplies.

The federal government announced on Jan. 17 that 30,400 courses of treatment were received with approximately 120,000 more due to arrive by the end of March. Ontario was set to receive around 10,000 of those treatment courses.

Paxlovid is a combination of two medications that must be taken together: Nirmatrelvir, which blocks an enzyme that the SARS-CoV-2 virus needs to reproduce, and ritonavir, a commonly used HIV treatment. In the Paxlovid combination, ritonavir slows down how fast nirmatrelvir breaks down so it can do its job for longer. Three pills must be taken twice daily for five days in a row.

In clinical trials, Paxlovid was deemed so successful at reducing hospitalizations and deaths among high-risk people not yet seriously ill with COVID-19 that Pfizer ended the trial early so it could start giving the treatment to a wider number of people. When given within three to five days of symptoms, it was 85 to 89 per cent effective at reducing hospitalizations. No Paxlovid patients died, while seven people in the study died after receiving a placebo.

Meanwhile, Ontario officials once again urged people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

“Paxlovid is not a replacement for vaccination. This antiviral is a treatment that is intended for those who are at a higher risk of severe outcomes that may lead to hospitalization,” the website said.

With files from The Canadian Press