Antiviral pill Paxlovid reduces risk of long COVID: Study

Paxlovid also reduced the risk of hospitalization or death following acute Covid-19.

Published Nov 13, 2022 • 1 minute read

Paxlovid, Pfizer's anti-viral medication to treat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is displayed in this picture illustration taken in Medford, Mass, May 12, 2022. Photo by Brian Snyder/Illustration/File Photo /REUTERS

Antiviral pill Paxlovid can do more than reduce the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19, according to a new study

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Paxlovid can also reduce the risk of long COVID, according to research conducted by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, CNN reported.

Posted online last week, the study looked at electronic records of more than 56,000 veterans with COVID-19, including more than 9,000 who were treated with Paxlovid within the first five days of their infection, said the report.

The data showed those treated with Paxlovid had a 26% reduced risk of developing long COVID conditions such as heart disease, blood disorders, fatigue, liver disease, kidney disease, muscle pain and more.

Paxlovid also reduced the risk of hospitalization or death following acute COVID-19.

The research found that there wasn’t a statistically significant link between taking Paxlovid and risk of two long COVID conditions: coughs and new diabetes diagnoses, according to CNN.

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Patients included in the study had an average age of 65 and were diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 1 and June 30.

They all had at least one risk factor for progression to severe COVID, such as older age, diabetes or being a smoker. Paxlovid reduced the risk of long COVID in people who were unvaccinated, vaccinated and boosted, and in people experiencing their first COVID infection or a reinfection, the study said.

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“Paxlovid reduces the risk of severe COVID-19 in the acute phase, and now, we have evidence that it can help reduce the risk of long COVID,” Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, chief of research and development at the VA St. Louis Health Care System and leader of the study, said in a news release. “This treatment could be an important asset to address the serious issue of long COVID.”

A limitation of the study was that most of the people involved were white and male.

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