The provincial government says 216 doses of the antiviral COVID treatment Paxlovid have been dispensed in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Back in January, some 500 treatment courses were received and distributed to the various regional health authorities. As of mid-April, some 3,100 treatment courses have been received.
The Department of Health was responding to recent questions surrounding policy and eligibility requirements for use of the treatment on COVID patients.
In Ontario, the treatment is available to all patients 70 and over regardless of their vaccination status. Yesterday, Jenn Deon learned that her 100-year-old father, WWII veteran Rod Deon, would receive the antiviral after testing positive for the virus. She was initially told he did not meet policy requirements as a senior who was triple vaxed.
The Department says eligibility requirements are based on national guidance and are regularly reviewed and updated as needed.
To date, only 216 treatment courses of Paxlovid have been dispensed. 130 in Eastern Health, 50 in Central Health, 25 in Western Health and 11 in Labrador-Grenfell Health. The department says the treatment option is available only to a limited number of people because of several significant and severe drug interactions as well as other eligibility criteria which must be met prior to dispensing.
In the meantime, Deon says the policy is too restrictive according to what she’s been told by health professionals.
She’s been told that it’s “heartbreaking” for pharmacists to turn down “case after case” that doctors and nurse practitioners are sending in and that the pharmacy cannot fill because they are hampered by the policy. Deon calls it “ridiculous” that there is only one pharmacy in the province which can dispense the drug.
