Paxlovid protects against hospital care, death, especially in older patients, data show
A new real-world study published in PLOS Medicine that looked at outcomes of 703,647 patients with COVID-19 seen at 34 US clinics in 2022 and 2023 found that Paxlovid use was correlated with lower rates of hospitalization and death, particularly among older patients.
Both vaccinated and unvaccinated patients benefitted from Paxlovid when administered within 5 days of COVID-19 infection confirmation, the authors said. But researchers observed lower rates of use among Black and Hispanic patients than among White patients.
The study was based on the National COVID Cohort Collaborative's (N3C) electronic health record database. While clinical trials showed as high as an 88.9% reduction in the risk of COVID-related hospitalization or death among those who received Paxlovid compared to those who received placebos, limited real-world data has been gathered in the post-Omicron era on Paxlovid efficacy.
In this study, the authors estimated that Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospitalization by 39% (95% confidence interval [CI], 36% to 41%), with an absolute risk reduction of 0.9 percentage points. The risk of death was reduced by 61% (95% CI, 55% to 67%), with an absolute risk reduction of 0.2 percentage points.
In the study cohort, 15.7% of Black patients and 15.1% of Hispanic patients were treated with Paxlovid, compared to 22.4% of White patients and 23.1% of Asian patients.
"Paxlovid is thus effective at reducing the risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes but is not equitably distributed," the authors said. "Without attention, recognition, and remediation on the part of providers, public health agencies, the health system, and communities, the disproportional burden of COVID-19 will only further exacerbate existing health inequities in the US."