Inwood Test Site Offering Free Anti-Viral Drug For Those Who Get COVID

INWOOD, NY — Inwood was one of the first three locations for a first-of-its-kind COVID-19 treatment strategy for those who test positive for the virus.

Mayor Eric Adams announced at the beginning of July that NYC would be the first place to give out the antiviral drug Paxlovid, free of charge, for those who test positive at mobile sites.

Among the first sites is a testing unit in front of the Inwood Pharmacy at 4915 Broadway (near West 207th Street).

The Inwood location joined one other in the Bronx and another in Queens as the first to offer the drug to people with COVID, but more sites have been rolling out for the entirety of July.

People that test positive will receive a prescription from the person who provided the test and then be able to pick up the medication free of charge at the co-located pharmacy (Inwood Pharmacy) or through a delivery service.

Paxlovid, which was developed by Pfizer, gives an 89 percent reduction in the risk of hospitalization and death and is expected to work against the Omicron variant, according to Yale Medicine.

"New York City may have been at the epicenter of the pandemic at the start, but now we are leading the way in prevention and mitigation," Adams said in a news release."By getting lifesaving medications into the hands of New Yorkers minutes after they test positive, we are once again leading the nation to quickly deliver accessible care to those who need it."

COVID cases have been surging in the city again with the rise of the Omicron BA-5 subvariant.

You can read more about the program on the city's website.