The recent reports about hospitals beginning to ration covid pills have put the health system under a lot of stress. Doctors are facing a difficult time handling the Omicron surge as they need to use the medicines for the most deserving patients. At a time when the country is recording more than a million cases every week, the doctors are left with no option but to use covid pills and other life-saving medication in a limited manner.
As Cases Rise, Hospitals Begin Rationing Infusions, Covid Pills
Even though there are several treatments available to treat Covid 19, it is of no use in most cases as many patients cannot get them at the right time. The biggest concern for doctors is that most of the available medication that worked well against previous variants is not working effectively against the new variant.
Many doctors believe that they have a limited stock of essential medication. It is not possible to provide them to every patient due to the huge number of hospitalizations in recent weeks. Health care providers have even taken the support of algorithms to analyze who needs the medication at the crucial time. In some cases, doctors had to even give vitamin supplements instead of the covid medication due to a shortage of supplies.
In what can be called an ironic situation, such treatment is being declined to those who are vaccinated and at risk. Doctors believe that people who are not vaccinated are at greater risk, and they need the treatment badly compared to vaccinated people. However, this is a difficult situation as some people believe that this rewards those who did not believe in the vaccines.
Many health workers are worried about this situation, and they are facing a hard time reserving the treatment for some people while denying them to other people. One of the doctors who spoke to the media about this situation felt bad about turning away nearly 90% of patients who came for covid treatment due to a shortage of medicines.
In an interesting development, the monoclonal antibodies used to treat covid patients in the previous wave are not very effective against the new variant. Other treatments that work effectively against Omicron are in limited supply at this stage. According to experts, the monoclonal antibody treatment developed by Vir Biotechnology in collaboration with GSK is effective against the new variant even though it is not available in large quantities in the market.
The FDA has recently authorized Paxlovid from Pfizer, which is showing good results in the trials. However, the antiviral pill is facing supply issues, and it is not likely to be resolved until April. It is important to understand that it takes many months to manufacture the pills in large quantities, and the situation may worsen by that time.
Due to such constraints, the health system is now focused on using limited supplies for those who are at high risk and have no protection from vaccines.
In recent weeks, the federal government has ordered such essential medicines in large quantities. However, the pills may not be immediately available in the market, and manufacturers need at least a few more months’ time to ramp up production. According to experts, the peak of this wave may come in the next few weeks, and it will be a difficult situation for the health system to handle the surge without essential medication.
Even though Omicron produces milder symptoms, it can invade the protection offered by earlier antibodies. Due to this reason, it can infect even those people who have got both doses of vaccines.
