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12 September
Te Pātaka Whaioranga – Pharmac
has confirmed today that it is simplifying the access
criteria for the three antiviral treatments it funds for
treating early COVID-19. From Wednesday 14 September 2022,
the number of people who can access these treatments will
more than double.
“Pharmac widened access to
COVID-19 antivirals in July 2022, ensuring that the people
at highest risk would have access to these treatments,”
says Pharmac’s chief medical officer, Dr David Hughes.
“We are pleased to confirm that from this Wednesday even
more New Zealanders could benefit from these
treatments.”
“The access criteria for the
antiviral treatments for COVID-19 will be widened to include
a larger priority population of people at risk of severe
illness from COVID-19 infection,” says Dr Hughes. “This
will include all people aged 65 years and over, and Māori
and Pacific peoples over the age of 50. Other people below
these ages would need to have three high-risk medical
conditions to be eligible.”
“Pharmac has been
working closely with the supplier of Paxlovid, Pfizer to
secure more stock as the COVID-19 environment continues to
evolve. An additional 40,000 courses have been ordered and
are expected to arrive in New Zealand in the next few weeks.
We are confident we will be able to order more if we need
to, but with the reducing COVID-19 cases and arrival of more
stock, we can simplify the criteria and widen access to
these treatments.”
“We expect that simplifying the
criteria may remove some of the barriers to access these
antivirals and make it easier for healthcare practitioners
to consider treatment options for people in their community.
As COVID-19 is still present in Aotearoa we would like to
see as many people as possible stay well for summer,”
concludes Dr
Hughes.
© Scoop Media
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