Paxlovid Does Not Work Against ‘Long COVID’: Study

Out of the 31 long COVID conditions, Paxlovid was found to minimize the incidence of only one.

Pfizer's Paxlovid is displayed in Pembroke Pines, Fla., on July 7, 2022. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

COVID-19 antiviral drug Paxlovid failed to reduce most of the medical complications when used in the treatment of long COVID, according to a recent study.

Paxlovid is a combination of two medications, nirmatrelvir and ritonavir, which are taken together as pills within the first five days of the onset of COVID-19 symptoms. The Oct. 31 study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, measured the effectiveness of nirmatrelvir–ritonavir medications in preventing post-COVID-19 conditions (PCCs) after the initial infection, also called long COVID.

It found that Paxlovid was not successful in reducing 30 out of the 31 potential post-COVID-19 conditions at 31 to 180 days following the medication.

The study analyzed data from 191,057 U.S. veterans who registered their first positive COVID-19 test result between January and July 2022. Paxlovid treatment was given to 9,607 veterans, out of which 9,593 people were alive after 30 days. Eighty-six percent of the study participants were male and 17.5 percent were unvaccinated.

“No differences were observed between participants treated with nirmatrelvir–ritonavir and their matched untreated comparators” in the incidence of most post-COVID-19 conditions, the study said.

Such conditions include cardiac, pulmonary, renal, gastrointestinal, neurologic, mental health, musculoskeletal, endocrine, and general conditions, symptoms, and disorders.

The medication was only found to have reduced the risk of one post-COVID-19 condition—thromboembolic events, which occur when a blood clot breaks loose and travels down the blood stream before blocking another blood vessel.

The study pointed out that its results differ from a March 2023 study which found that nirmatrelvir–ritonavir was associated with a “lower risk for 10 out of 13 PCCs.” It suggested that the difference may be due to several factors like data sources, study methods, and period of study.

In an interview with HealthDay, Dr. George Ioannou, lead researcher of the study and director of hepatology with the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle, said that people infected with COVID-19 who are otherwise healthy may be wasting their time by taking Paxlovid to prevent long-term symptoms.

“If the only reason you are taking Paxlovid is because you think it will prevent you from developing complications of COVID-19, then maybe you should think twice about that,” he said.

Paxlovid is usually prescribed for COVID-19 patients who may be at high risk of dying or being hospitalized due to the infection, according to HealthDay.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was the primary funding source for the study.

“This paper reports on our study on the effectiveness of Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir on acute post-Covid conditions (PCC). We are continuing our research to pinpoint what factors proved effective in alleviating PCCs and will publish in due course,” said study co-author Nallakkandi Rajeevan in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.

Long COVID Issues

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), long COVID is “broadly defined as signs, symptoms, and conditions that continue or develop after acute COVID-19 infection.” These conditions can last for weeks, months, or years.

Even though long COVID occurs more in people who have had severe COVID-19 illness, any individual who is infected with the virus can experience it.

A nurse prepares a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Los Angeles on March 10, 2021. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

“While most people with Long COVID have evidence of infection or COVID-19 illness, in some cases, a person with Long COVID may not have tested positive for the virus or known they were infected,” the CDC said.

An Oct. 29 study published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases looked at the long-term impact of COVID-19 among infected individuals.

Out of the 806 patients in the study, individuals infected with the Omicron and Delta variants were found to have experienced “more severe long COVID.”

“At 1.5 year after infection, patients had no clinically meaningful decline in severity of long COVID, and 57% (245/429) of patients failed to improve 1.5 years after infection, with no differences between variants,” the study said.

According to a CDC study, COVID-19 survivors have two times the risk of developing respiratory conditions or pulmonary embolism, a sudden blockage in the pulmonary arteries.

The study found that 1 in 5 COVID-19 survivors in the age group of 18 to 64 experienced “at least one incident condition that might be attributable to previous COVID-19.” This number jumps to 1 in 4 among survivors aged 65 and above.

In July 2021, long COVID was recognized as a condition that could result in a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

There are also concerns that harms resulting from COVID-19 vaccines could be passed off as long COVID.

“It will continue to propagate this non-recognition of the scope and scale of vaccine injuries,” Dr. Pierre Kory, who shares a private practice treating both long COVID and COVID-19 vaccine injuries, told The Epoch Times earlier this year.

“If anything, it could make people want to get vaccinated because they don’t want to get long COVID,” he added.

Paxlovid Availability and Effectiveness

The Food and Drug Administration granted full approval for Paxlovid in May. The agency said that Paxlovid was the fourth drug and first antiviral pill to be approved for treating COVID-19.

The full approval is applicable only to adults. Adolescents ages 12 to 18 will have access to the drug under emergency use authorization.

Clinical trials of Paxlovid have produced mixed results.

While the Oct. 31 study found Paxlovid ineffective in treating long COVID symptoms, earlier research from the same team found that the treatment “seemed to reduce the risk for death 31 to 180 days after infection” compared to individuals receiving no treatment.

In one of Pfizer’s clinical trials, Paxlovid was shown to minimize deaths and hospitalizations by about 90 percent among unvaccinated individuals who were at risk of serious COVID-19 illness.

However, another trial from the company didn’t show any benefit to individuals deemed to be at standard risk of COVID-19 infection, including those who had been vaccinated.

Since December 2021, the U.S. government has purchased Paxlovid and distributed it for free to the public. But starting next year, the drug will move to the commercial market and could cost almost $1,400 for a five-day course.

The Epoch Times reached out to Pfizer, the manufacturer of the drug, for comment.

Marina Zhang contributed to the report.