U.S. health officials said on Tuesday that the rising COVID-19 cases are driving up the use of therapeutics, with Pfizer Inc′s oral antiviral treatment Paxlovid seeing a 315% jump over the past four weeks. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday estimated that the Omicron sub-variant BA.2.12.1 was responsible for approximately half of the infections last week. On Tuesday, New York City′s COVID-19 alert level was upgraded to high, with the city′s health department strongly encouraging everyone to wear masks in all public indoor settings and crowded outdoor settings for those over 65 or at high risk.

According to statistics, almost 97,000 new cases are reported every day in the United States. The daily death toll ranges between 300 and 500.

The Department of Health and Human Services stated that during the first week of May, over 115,000 courses of Paxlovid were dispensed. A total of 668,954 doses were used up against the total supply of 3.3 million. Further from the 3.2 million Molnupiravir courses available, about 230,257 courses were administered.

According to the official, the government has sent about 360 million coronavirus tests to houses across the country and has initiated a third round of ordering on its COVIDtest.gov website to accommodate extra demands. The US Food and Drug Administration approved a booster injection of Pfizer and BioNTech′s vaccine for children aged 5 to 11, allowing anyone aged 5 and up to receive the third shot. (Reuters, May 18, 2022)