Two oral COVID-19 antiviral medications, molnupiravir (Merck) and Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir, Pfizer), have been proven to be safe, effective, and convenient treatments to take at home.
However, patients have to surmount several hurdles to get them—including recognizing that they have symptoms of COVID-19, getting a COVID-19 test, having a positive test, securing a doctor’s appointment, getting a prescription, and finding a pharmacy with a supply—and they have to do all of this quickly. Antivirals need to be started within the first 5 days of COVID-19 symptom onset in order to produce a benefit.
“High-risk patients in the first few days after diagnosis don’t realize how much sicker they’re going to get, so they miss the opportunity to get better faster—and by the time they actually do, it’s too late,” said Bryan Jarabek MD, PhD, chief medical informatics officer and hospitalist at M Health Fairview in Minneapolis.
Source: Eagerly awaited COVID lifesavers molnupiravir, Paxlovid now wait for patients | CIDRAP


The RIT tool has already proven useful in providing clues about potential troop and equipment movement in western Russia where a huge build up of forces has taken place as the prospect of a war with neighbouring Ukraine has become a distinct possibility.


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