This is an announcement that could simplify the work of doctors, and the lives of some patients.
The High Authority for Health (HAS) issued an opinion on Monday aimed at facilitating the prescription of Paxlovid, the anti-Covid pill developed by the Pfizer group, while this antiviral remains little given by doctors.
"The HAS is in favor of the reimbursement of Paxlovid", announced the authority in a press release, recalling however that only patients at risk of serious complications are concerned.
The Paxlovid is, in fact, already reimbursed in France.
But these are emergency procedures, known as “early access”.
By issuing this opinion, which must now be ratified by the government, the HAS is in favor of entry into common law.
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Concretely, this development would make prescribing much easier for doctors, who currently have to follow a complex procedure each time Paxlovid is prescribed, in particular via an online questionnaire.
"Registration for reimbursement of this treatment should facilitate the prescription of Paxlovid in community medicine and therefore its access for patients", explained the HAS.
20% of new eligible patients
Indeed, prescriptions for this drug remain rare: a few thousand, while every day several tens of thousands of new cases of Covid are reported.
However, this pill had justly been praised by the government, which ordered 500,000 doses, as revealed by Le Parisien, for its ease of oral administration.
Everyone is certainly not affected by the HAS recommendation, since it is limited to people at risk when they should not be placed on oxygen.
But this represents many categories, including patients over 65 and those who are overweight.
The number of patients eligible for Paxlovid “can thus be estimated at a maximum of 20% of the number of new cases”, estimates the HAS.
The opinion of the HAS follows a similar position of the World Health Organization (WHO) by a few days.
This recommended giving priority to Paxlovid over other treatments, in particular the competing pill from the Merck laboratory, molnupiravir.
However, the two institutions underline a limit of the Paxlovid.
To be effective, it must be given very soon after the first symptoms.
"The earliness of administration in relation to the onset of symptoms - within five days of the onset of symptoms - is an important point", notes the HAS.
Coronavirus figures stable in France
The number of people hospitalized with Covid-19 in France remained stable on Monday, according to figures published at the end of the day by the health authorities.
The average of infections over the past seven days, which smooths out statistical jitters, stands at 75,297, compared to 76,130 on Sunday and 116,852 a week ago.
Hospitals had 24,980 Covid-19 positive patients, down from 24,888 the day before and 24,990 a week ago.
At least 1,659 were in critical care (which receives the most serious cases), compared to 1,635 the previous Monday.
The epidemic has caused the death of 196 people in 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths in France to 145,257 in just over two years.