Marin Acquires 500 Doses Of New COVID Drug: Report

MARIN COUNTY, CA — Marin pharmacies have acquired around 500 doses of an approved COVID-19 antiviral drug that’s proven to be remarkably effective in clinical tests, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Paxlovid was approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration late last year.

The drug doesn’t taste great; it’s described as having the flavor of “grapefruit juice mixed with soap,” but it’s emerged as a valuable pandemic tool that clinical studies say reduces the risk of death or hospitalization for vulnerable adults by about 90 percent.

Marin Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis described the development as a “key milestone in our pandemic response,” The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

“It happened with little fanfare, but it’s a key milestone in our pandemic response,” Willis told The Chronicle.

“It basically means for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic we have enough medications in Marin to effectively treat everyone who should be treated for COVID-19.”

And in one of America’s most vaccinated communities, it has the potential to be a “game-changer,” Willis told the news outlet.

“For the first time we can visualize a community with zero COVID deaths,” he said, noting that that would have been “unimaginable” last year and calling the treatments a game-changer.

Read more in The San Francisco Chronicle