ANTIVIRALS AND BOOSTERS

The Joe Biden administration is exploring ways to expand access to promising COVID-19 antivirals that can keep people out of the hospital when the pills become more plentiful in coming months, reported The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Friday.

The administration has purchased enough supplies of an oral drug from Pfizer Inc. to treat 10 million people for free through a 5.29 billion US dollars agreement, should health regulators give it the green light.

The courses purchased by the federal government are expected to be allocated to the states, which would then direct them to locations such as pharmacies, hospitals and nursing homes, according to the report.

Beyond that, the administration is reviewing whether Paxlovid, the antiviral from Pfizer, can be available on the commercial market in retail pharmacies if it gets regulatory clearance. Supply of the antivirals should become more plentiful by April or May.

On Friday, booster shots from Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech as well as Moderna Inc. became available to all adults after the CDC endorsed the extra doses for people at least six months after their second shot.

The signoff will "lead to a significant widening of the US booster campaign that health officials hope will remove confusion and offer people more protection ahead of holiday gatherings and travel as new daily COVID-19 cases are beginning to rise again," reported the WSJ.

"Booster shots have demonstrated the ability to safely increase people's protection against infection and severe outcomes and are an important public health tool to strengthen our defenses against the virus as we enter the winter holidays," said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.

"Federal health officials hope a straightforward boosters-for-all policy will prompt millions more people to get the shots before they travel or gather with friends and family over the holidays. Many are concerned about the worsening picture as winter approaches," reported The Washington Post.