Dr. Nesheiwat: Authorized at-home COVID-19 treatment pills are a 'blessing'

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COVID-19 treatment pills are a ‘blessing’: Nesheiwat

Fox News contributor Dr. Janette Nesheiwat discusses the two authorized at-home treatment drugs.

Dr. Janette Nesheiwat joined "FOX News Live" Friday discussing the FDA's emergency use authorization of two COVID-19 treatment drugs — Pfizer's Paxlovid and Merck's molnupiravir. 

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JANETTE NESHEIWAT: Despite the number of cases that we see surging throughout the nation, we're actually still in a better place than we were at the beginning of this pandemic because we're looking at a different way of treating COVID. We now have two meds, two antiviral medications that have emergency-use authorization by the FDA — Paxlovid and molnupiravir. Now it's recommended to use Paxlovid because it does have a higher efficacy than molnupiravir by Merck. But if we don't have Paxlovid available, then we should go ahead and use the other antiviral med because it can still give you about 30 to 50 percent protection against death and hospitalization, whereas Paxlovid by Pfizer can give you up to 90 percent protection. 

What does that mean? You're less likely to be hospitalized, you're less likely to lose your life, if you are able to start these antiviral pills, ideally within 72 hours. Now, if you still take them, maybe on day four or day five, it could still be effective. But it's most effective if you take them within 72 hours. And this is really — it's a blessing. It's a miracle. It's just a matter of getting the supply. We need production. We need manufacturing of this medication. We need it now. 

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW BELOW: 

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