shades fills you in

Pfizer has an antiviral drug called Paxlovid. It blocks an enzyme that COVID needs to replicate

Bloomberg Has Good News: Paxlovid Can Prevent Hospitalizations for the Unvaccinated

And a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs study found that Paxlovid reduced a patient’s risk of developing long COVID

Plus, 3 separate lab studies show that Paxlovid works against the Omicron variant

A Bloomberg Op: These Pills Work! We Can’t Make the Same Mistakes We Made With Vaccines. People Need Access, Especially in Poorer Countries

But according to an Israeli study, Paxlovid doesn’t do much for people younger than 65 -- Time Magazine

Read the study here. It found that Paxlovid did a great job of protecting older folks from hospitalization and death -- younger folks? Not so much

One Important Note: Some people who took Paxlovid got COVID again soon after finishing their treatment -- WaPo

The LA Times Confirms -- Relapse Is a Real Thing, With People All Over Reporting It Happening

For Example, Biden Had a COVID Rebound After Taking the Antiviral Drug Paxlovid

But it seems like rebound symptoms are rare. Only 4 of 483 COVID patients treated with Paxlovid rebounded in a study from the Mayo Clinic

Waitaminute says The Atlantic: Pax rebound could be more common than we think! We know Paxlovid is a great way to keep at-risk COVID patients out of the hospital -- but Paxlovid still has its mysteries

And a study from UCSD found that rebound symptoms likely happen because patients aren’t getting enough Paxlovid

CNN writes that during a Paxlovid rebound -- even without symptoms -- you can still be contagious

The CEO of Pfizer Has a Solution -- If You Relapse, Just Take More!

Waitaminute, says the FDA -- don’t do that!!

But a study from the U.S. government said Pax rebound happens because of a “robust immune response” to leftover virus in the respiratory tract. Maybe you don’t need a longer course?

Well, it’s good enough for Fauci, apparently. He experienced rebound symptoms after his initial Paxlovid treatment, so he took a second course

Now some doctors wonder whether they should prescribe Paxlovid for lower-risk patients -- it could mean more quarantine time after relapse. Who wants that?

But Maybe COVID Rebound Has Nothing to Do with Paxlovid? A Study of People in Hong Kong Found That Paxlovid *Didn’t* Raise the Risk of a Rebound or Make Rebound Infections More Severe. Read the Study Here

Another Thing to Think About: Paxlovid Could Interact Poorly With Other Medications Like Blood Thinners, Statins, and Antidepressants

The Atlantic: Rebounds and its interactions with other meds made Paxlovid unpopular among anti-paxxers. This is a problem, because not enough people are taking Pax. Death rates *should* be much lower

Also, The Atlantic says the pill could give you the dreaded Paxlovid mouth. Ew

More on that from The WSJ: People with Paxlovid mouth are looking online for remedies, which include eating mints, drinking chocolate milk, and chewing cinnamon gum

And one thing Pax won’t work on? Post-exposure protection -- meaning if you’re exposed, and take Paxlovid, you’ll probably still get COVID

Finally, Science Magazine says new lab studies found that COVID *could* mutate to resist Paxlovid

There’s Still a Lot to Learn About Paxlovid. But We Do Know It’s Our Best Option for Treating COVID -- Says The Atlantic