Hello AFM family,
There are many people sick with the Omicron variant in our community right now. Many will have mild symptoms, but some unfortunately will be more severe. Immunization is the best strategy to protect yourself and others in your home and community, along with masking and isolation if you have symptoms, but now there are some treatment options:
Paxlovid has been shown to reduce the chance of hospitalization and death by 89% in high-risk Covid OUTPATIENTS with mild to moderate symptoms who do not require oxygen or have an oxygen requirement above their baseline if already on oxygen.
Paxlovid must be prescribed in the first 5 days of symptoms.
Prescriptions can be picked up at Asante pharmacies in Grants Pass and Medford (patients call upon arrival and pharmacy techs will deliver the prescription to the patient in their vehicle).
Due to currently limited supply, paxlovid is only available to certain categories of individuals (such as the unvaccinated 65 or older or under 65 with concerning risk factors, or vaccinated 75 or older or 65 and older with risk factors). Immunocompromised patients are a higher priority than everyone else. This will change (become more available, perhaps become like the medication given for influenza) as more supply becomes available.
There are potential interactions with many commonly prescribed and over-the-counter drugs including opiates, some blood pressure medications and statins, bupropion, trazodone, colchicine, birth control pills, warfarin and St. John’s wort.
Sotrovimab is the only monoclonal antibody approved treatment for the Omicron variant which is mostly what we have in Southern Oregon right now. Patients who qualify have:
Positive Covid-19 test
Be within 10 days of symptom onset
Be at least 12 years old
Weigh at least 40kg
Not be hospitalized
Not require oxygen or more oxygen than baseline
Be at high risk for progressing to severe disease
FREE N95 MASKS! These are better than cloth or even the blue surgical masks.
1. N95 mask availability in the community
1. The same pharmacies that participate in the COVID-19 Retail Pharmacy Vaccine program should also have N95s available soon/already. For a list of these pharmacies visit: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/retail-pharmacy-program/participating-pharmacies.html
2. In addition, some HRSA funded sites will have them as well. Siskiyou Community Health is on this list, but they do not have the supplies on site at this time.
Let’s all take care of each other! Please contact me with any questions and remember I still have vaccine clinics Mondays and Wednesdays, free, open to the public, no waiting in line.
Dr. Powell
