COVID treatment pills are rolling out, already in our area

Merck and Pfizer’s antiviral pills used to treat COVID are rolling out nationwide.

Asti’s Pharmacy in Castle Shannon is one of the only pharmacies in Allegheny County that currently has the pills, which aim to keep patients out of the hospital.

You have to test positive for COVID and have a doctor’s prescription to get them, since they’re reserved for high-risk patients with preexisting conditions.

“These are people that it could escalate and they (would) be hospitalized, so we want to keep them out of the hospital, and home, to get better as quickly as possible,” explained Samantha Pitzarella, the director of pharmacy at Asti’s Pharmacy.

The South Hills pharmacy has received enough pills from the state to treat 140 people.

So far, they’ve distributed them to eight customers, according to Pitzarella.

“The most challenging part about this is that we’re not their traditional, regular pharmacy, so we have to work with them to go through all of the other medications that they’re on,” she said. “There are a number of drug interactions with these products, and so we have to make sure that it’s appropriate that they take it.”

Patients need to start taking these pills within five days of showing symptoms.

They work similarly to how Tamiflu treats the flu.

“They work to stop the reproduction of the virus within your system — so very much like how an antibiotic works to stop bacteria from growing, same process,” explained Pitzarella.

Clinical trials with high-risk adults showed Pfizer’s pill reduced hospitalization and death by 89% and Merck’s by 30%, according to each manufacturer.

Once Asti’s Pharmacy runs out of pills, they can request more from the state, but there’s no guarantee they’ll get them.

How to not get scammed trying to find a COVID-19 test

©2022 Cox Media Group