Paxlovid® for the treatment of COVID-19

Paxlovid® will be listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) from Sunday, 1 May 2022, as a treatment for COVID-19.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee has advised that this medicine should be listed on the PBS for adults who have mild to moderate COVID-19 confirmed by a PCR or medically verified RAT and who can start treatment within 5 days of symptom onset, can be prescribed PBS-subsidised Paxlovid® by their doctor or nurse practitioner if:

• they are 65 years of age or older, with two other risk factors for severe disease (as increasing age is a risk factor, patients who are 75 years of age or older only need to have one other risk factor); or o they identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin, and are 50 years of age or older with two other risk factors for severe disease, or
• they are moderately to severely immunocompromised.

Paxlovid® is not recommended for use in pregnant or breastfeeding women and in women of childbearing potential not using contraception. TGA product information on Paxlovid® is available here.

To prioritise Paxlovid® for patients at highest risk of developing severe COVID-19, prescribers are requested to prescribe Paxlovid® only in accordance with the PBS eligibility criteria; and prescribers and dispensers are strongly discouraged from providing it via private prescription.

For more information please read the PBS factsheet available here.