But on day four, he said, he was “surprised and disappointed” to find that he had tested positive again, and that he had a relapse of symptoms that, he said, were worse. before, including low-grade fever, aches, runny nose and “mild cough”.
He called his doctor (you might wonder who Dr. Fauci’s doctor was, but he wouldn’t say) and got a prescription for another 5-day course of Paxlovid. In its advice at the end of May, CDC notes that there is no evidence that additional treatment with Paxlovid or other Covid therapies is needed when recovery is suspected. But Dr Fauci said taking two courses is relatively common among people with relapses.
In Pfizer register To enable emergency use of Paxlovid, the company suggested that “some subjects appear to have recovered in SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels around Day 10 or Day 14.” But recovery occurred in both those treated with Paxlovid and placebo, the company said.
Clinical trials supporting FDA clearance of Paxlovid have been conducted in unvaccinated people, which has led some experts to say that more data are needed on vaccinated people. Among them is Dr Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease expert at Emory University, who said in an interview that “we urgently need the data to know, in vaccinated people and on 65 years old like Tony, who needs it and how long.”
Dr. Fauci said he would enjoy watching a study compares Paxlovid’s 5-day course to a 10-day course, “to see if you can prevent recovery by taking an extra 5 days”.
Dr Fauci completed his second course on Wednesday, and said his symptoms were “basically gone, except for a little stuffy nose”. He tested positive on Tuesday, he said, but had yet to retest himself at the time of Wednesday’s interview.
“I think there’s understandable confusion when people hear about people recovering,” he said. “Do not confuse that with what Paxlovid was originally intended for. It is not meant to prevent you from recovering. It is meant to prevent you from being hospitalized. I’m 81, I’m in danger of being hospitalized, and I’m not even sick enough to be hospitalized.”
