Australia’s peak body for GPs says there is a lack of awareness about treatments, which if taken early can prevent severe disease
“There are a number of barriers in people accessing these medicines, the main being that the time from symptom onset to taking the first tablet must be five days or less,” Price told Guardian Australia. “Which is not a lot, given the person needs to identify their symptoms, get tested, notify or have their GP be notified of their positive status, have their eligibility for these medicines be determined and then get their script filled at their local pharmacy.
“Early notification is critical to ensure patients receive the care they need, including access to antivirals,” she said.to manage different stages of Covid-19 disease. From Monday, Paxlovid was made available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for certain high-risk patients with mild-to-moderate Covid-19. The oral antiviral treatment is taken twice-daily for five days and should be taken within five days of symptoms appearing.
There are also treatments like sotrovimab that need to be given through intravenous infusion by a nurse at a healthcare facility. Like the oral treatments, intravenous treatments are most effective when given within the first five days after symptom onset.