During her weekly Q & A session, Chicago Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said she was encouraged to see the latest data from Pfizer’s trial of a pill to treat COVID-19.
“I am optimistic that we may soon have a drug that can make a really big difference,” said Arwady. “We’re not eradicating COVID, but having the potential for a medication with good evidence behind it that actually helps protect against hospitalization and death.”
While it doesn’t prevent COVID-19 infections, Pfizer’s final data shows the pill cuts the risk of hospitalization by 89 percent when taken within a few days of experiencing COVID symptoms.
Dr. Arwady compared it to the drug Tamiflu.
“It's a tool that we use with flu vaccination to help keep people safe, to help keep hospitalization numbers down,” she said. “And I've been hoping for a similar breakthrough since COVID came.”
She said Pfizer’s pill could be approved by the Federal Drug Adminstration in a matter of weeks and will need to be prioritized once it’s made available.
“Where I think about where we most need this is people who are immunocompromised, who are getting transplants, who are on cancer medications that suppress their immune system, [people who] are in nursing homes and are very high risk.”
Last month, Pfizer said the oral medicine was around 89 percent effective in preventing hospitalizations or deaths based on a trial of roughly 1,200 people.
Tuesday’s analysis of the trial includes an additional 1,000 people.
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