WHO recommended Paxlovid works as an antiviral treatment for Covid infection, but not as a preventive measure in household says, Pfizer. In the trial, the oral pills were tested for post-exposure use, or prevention in exposed people, however, the results in both the cases were not significant.

Albert Bourla, Chairman, Pfizer stated that Paxlovid was an ambitious project that can treat infection in a wide spectrum of the population. Though the drug showed strong efficacy and safety for the treatment of infected people, the drug makers were disappointed in its prophylactic actions. In the trial, 3,000 adults were included who were exposed to the infection and developed symptoms. Those who did not develop any symptoms took Paxlovid twice a day for 5-10 days or a placebo.

Those who took the drug for 5 days were found to be 32% less likely to get an infection in comparison to people administered with a placebo. Similar results were recorded for 10 days with 37% risk reduction. Daniel Barouch, MD, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center stated that the omicron variant can be a factor affecting the results as the hyper infectiousness makes it harder to prevent it. Earlier, Pfizer drug was recommended to prevent hospitalization and risk of death in Covid infected patients with a high risk of severe illness or comorbidities. The drug was approved in 60+ countries with EUA in the US for administration in ages 12 and above.

(Source: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/973277?src= )