Paxlovid, the COVID-19 antiviral pill, is now available at pharmacies across the province.

This offers a treatment option for people who have tested positive and have been symptomatic for five days or less. While not a cure for COVID-19, it does prevent the virus from replicating in the body, which can prevent severe illness.

The pill is available for those over the age of 80, immunocompromised or over the age of 60 and living in a rural area who have tested positive for the virus. Government will be providing rapid tests to those looking to avail of the drug.

Community pharmacist and President of the Pharmacists’ Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, Janice Audeau, calls it a positive move in the fight against COVID-19.

She says it will give more people access to the medication sooner which will help prevent hospitalizations and deaths due to the virus. She says it will let them get the right medication into the right hands at the right time.

Meanwhile, the family of a 100-year-old WWII veteran who had difficulty receiving Paxlovid is happy to see the drug’s widespread distribution to the province’s pharmacies.

Jenn Deon, the daughter of Rod Deon, calls the move a gamechanger for those living outside of St. John’s because of the five-day window.

She says the way that things were, you had to test positive, get an appointment with a doctor, have them send in the authorization, which went to only one pharmacy in the province, and then had to get the prescription to you. She says it is incredible that a local pharmacist can now do all of the screening.