Ahmed Aboulenein

WASHINGTON (Reuters), – The administration of President Joe Biden aims to increase access to COVID-19 antiviral treatment like Pfizer Inc’s Paxlovid has been doubled at all locations, according to the White House on Tuesday.

Starting this week, pharmacies that participate in the federal pharmacy program to distribute antiviral treatment will be eligible for free orders from the U.S. government.

At the moment, pharmacies depend on the states for the drugs. The government supplies the drugs to some pharmacies and directs them to communities centers or states. The current system allows the treatment to be available at around 20,000 locations.

A senior official in the administration told journalists on a conference call that there is more opportunity to save lives by giving this medication to more people.

According to the official, the administration plans to expand their distribution to more than 30,000 sites soon and to reach 40,000 locations over the next few weeks.

Due to complex eligibility requirements and reduced testing requirements, the demand for Paxlovid was unexpectedly low. There is also potential for drug interaction.

After a clinical trial that saw a reduction of death or hospitalizations in COVID patients, Paxlovid was seen as a key tool to fight the disease.

The only proven antiviral treatment is molnupiravir, which has been shown to be effective. The others are Merck & Co’s far less effective rival pill molnupiravir, and Gilead Sciences Inc Intravenous Remdesivir.

Pfizer plans to create 3.5 Million courses for U.S. consumption by April. The United States agreed to buy 20 million tablets at $530 per unit.

U.S. data for April shows that 1.5 million of these courses have been distributed and that there are over 500,000 still in stock at pharmacies.

In its “Test to Treat” initiative, the government plans to expand federally-funded test sites. This allows Americans to be tested for COVID-19 in a pharmacy. If they are positive, they will receive free medication.

There are 2,200 of these sites at the moment, with another 10,000 expected to be online soon by White House.

Through public education campaigns, the administration also seeks to increase patient and provider awareness.