I agree with the article. While we don't know yet, how the drug will work in practice, if it is as effective as the results in the clinical trial, it can considerably change the course of this pandemic.
One issue would be high cost. Nevertheless, any day spent in hospital has much higher costs.
Another issue could be how timely we are able to identify people needing this medicine (risk groups). Won't it be that by the time we realize, the patient is already in the hospital? There are plans already being implemented to provide this medicine in pharmacies, promptly after getting positive covid test without the need for GP appointment and prescription.
The article suggests it will be less than monoclonal antibody treatments («monoclonal antibody treatments, which are effective in preventing severe disease in high-risk patients. But they are expensive and require intravenous infusion or subcutaneous injection, and health-care providers must monitor their administration closely» - "expensive" even before medical assistance in their administration).
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[ 5.3 ms ] story [ 26.3 ms ] threadOne issue would be high cost. Nevertheless, any day spent in hospital has much higher costs.
Another issue could be how timely we are able to identify people needing this medicine (risk groups). Won't it be that by the time we realize, the patient is already in the hospital? There are plans already being implemented to provide this medicine in pharmacies, promptly after getting positive covid test without the need for GP appointment and prescription.
I hope that this really works.
The article suggests it will be less than monoclonal antibody treatments («monoclonal antibody treatments, which are effective in preventing severe disease in high-risk patients. But they are expensive and require intravenous infusion or subcutaneous injection, and health-care providers must monitor their administration closely» - "expensive" even before medical assistance in their administration).