Pfizer Canada has received Health Canada approval for a use of a new COVID treatment in tablet form.
Paxlovid is intended for high-risk adults, 18 and older, who develop mild-to-moderate symptoms.
Dr. Supriya Sharma from Health Canada says a recent study on unvaccinated people who have COVID-19 symptoms showed Paxlovid to be very effective.
“The study showed that treatment with Paxlovid compared with no treatment, reduced the risk of hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 by 89 percent when the medications were started within three days of the beginning of symptoms and 85 percent when started within five days,” states Dr. Sharma.
Dr. Sharma suggests studies show the pills are effective against the omicron variant.
“The recent data also included laboratory information confirming the effectiveness of the medication against the omicron variant. This submission included data from a clinical trial conducted in unvaccinated, non-hospitalized, high-risk adults, having COVID-19 symptoms.”
Canada received an initial shipment of more than 30,000 treatment courses today and another 120,000 are expected before the end of March.
Pfizer signed an agreement with the federal government for one million units this year.
(With files from Randy Thoms)
