The Biden Administration confirmed that it wants to make the new COVID-19 antiviral pills available to more people by widening these medicines' scopes.
Right now, the coronavirus pandemic is still forcing many countries to implement safety restrictions to prevent the daily infected cases. The United States is one of the nations greatly affected by the global health crisis.
Some reports stated that even fully vaccinated individuals in the U.S. are now being hospitalized. Many of them are also going to the emergency room.
"What we're starting to see now is an uptick in hospitalizations among people who've been vaccinated but not boosted," said the Director of NIAID (National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease), Dr. Anthony Fauci, via NBC News.
Biden Administration to Expand COVID-19 Pills' Availability
According to Reuters' latest report, one of the officials of the Biden Administration confirmed that the government plans to broaden the availability of the new COVID-19 pills.
However, they will only start doing this once the supply increases. The anonymous insider also stated that there are various brands that the current U.S. leader wants to include in the goal.
These include Pfizer's new antiviral pill, as well as Merck & Co Inc's Molnupiravir (in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics). Both of these medicines are expected to become efficient antiviral pills against the deadly COVID-19 virus.
Can COVID-19 Antiviral Pills Replace Vaccines?
Many people are now confused about whether the new antiviral pills can replace the current COVID-19 vaccines. However, experts said these new medicines are not good alternatives for coronavirus vaccines.
WUSA90 reported that these antiviral medicines are actually developed to help infected individuals to recover from the deadly virus. This means that people can't use them to enhance their immunity.
Previously, Tech Times reported that the cheaper Pfizer COVID-19 pills are expected because of the manufacturer's new licensing agreement with generic-drug makers. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca is doing the opposite since it has already announced that its vaccines would be more expensive.
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Written by: Griffin Davis
