By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Oral antiviral pills from Merck & Co and Pfizer If taken promptly, Inc/BioNTechSE can significantly reduce the severity of COVID-19. However, doctors caution vaccine-sceptics not to misunderstand the benefits of vaccines and the prevention that they provide.

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 72% have had their first dose of vaccine. But, 72% are still not vaccinated. This is due to political partisanship and differences in opinion about vaccine safety.

Employers’ mandates to vaccinate, as well as the states and administration of U.S. president Joe Biden, have contributed to increased vaccinations. But they also fuelled controversy.

Experts in disease prevention fear that oral COVID-19 treatment may hinder vaccination efforts. Scott Ratzan from the City University of New York School of Public Health, who was a specialist in health communication, said preliminary findings of a survey of 3,000 U.S citizens.

Ratzan reported that eight out of eight people surveyed preferred to be given a pill over being immunized. “That is a high number,” Ratzan said.

Following news Friday by Pfizer (maker of the COVID-19 leader vaccine), that Paxlovid, its experimental antiviral medication, has cut hospitalizations and deaths from the disease by 89% for high-risk adult patients, the concern was raised.

Pfizer’s announcements follow Merck’s Oct. 1 news that Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, their partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics had announced that their oral antiviral drug reduced death and hospitalization by 50%. The drug is known as Molnupiravir and was granted conditional approval by the UK. They will need to be cleared by U.S. regulators, but they could both go on the market as early December.

“Relying only on antiviral drugs is a little bit like a dice roll in terms of what you’ll do. Although it will be more effective than none, this is still a very high-stakes game.” Dr. Peter Hotez, Baylor College of Medicine’s vaccine expert, said that it was a good idea to rely on an antiviral drug.

Six infectious diseases experts, interviewed by Reuters, were enthusiastic about new effective treatments for COVID-19. They also agreed that they weren’t a substitute for vaccinations.

According to an analysis of veterans in the United States, vaccines developed by Pfizer and BioNTech are still effective, reducing the chance of being hospitalized even with the high-transmissible Delta strain of the virus.

According to them, some people who were not vaccinated have relied on monoclonal antibodies – which are drugs that must be given intravenousally via IV injections or infusions – for protection in case of infection. I think that the Pfizer news was fantastic. This goes along with vaccines. It does not replace it,” stated Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician who is also a professor of public Health at George Washington University. Also Baltimore’s former commissioner for health.

Albert Bourla (CEO of Pfizer Inc., NYSE:), stated that refusing to get vaccines “would be an awful mistake.” Bourla said in an interview with Reuters that vaccinations are for people who need them. “This shouldn’t be considered a reason for you to ignore your safety and put your home, family and community in peril.”

ANTIVIRAL CHALLENGES

Experts said that one reason to not rely on new medications is the fact that the antiviral medication, which stops the virus replicating within the body, must only be administered in an early stage of the disease. COVID-19 comes in different phases.

In its first phase, the virus replicates rapidly in the body. However, the most severe side effects of COVID-19 are in the second phase. These symptoms result from an immune system that is defective and triggered when the virus replicates.

Hotez stated that once you have symptoms such as shortness of breathing or hospitalization, the immune system is in a dysfunctional phase and antivirals won’t be much help. Hotez agreed. Because the time frame in which the virus moves from its replication phase into the inflammatory phase of infection is flexible, it can be hard to treat early enough. Hotez explained that it will take some time for this to happen. Others may need treatment later. Hotez explained that people who are in their early stages of illness may feel surprising well. However, they might not realize that their oxygen levels are falling. This is one of the signs that the inflammation phase of the disease has begun. Hotez said, “Sometimes you won’t realize you are sick until it’s too late.”