Will taking Paxlovid for COVID affect one’s future immunity?
Dear Advice Team: In mid-July, I came down with COVID for the first time. I was vaccinated and had the first booster. I had symptoms: fever, headache, terrible sore throat and fatigue. My doctor had me take Paxlovid. I was COVID-positive for 12 days.
We’ve been told that getting COVID gives you some immunity from future exposures, at least for several months. But is the immunity boost less if you take Paxlovid than it would have been if your body fought off the virus completely on its own? Also, how long should I wait before getting the second booster? Can I assume I have protection for 4 to 6 months?
Welcome to Pandemic Problems, an advice column from The Chronicle’s engagement reporters that aims to help Bay Area residents solve their pandemic and post-pandemic conundrums — personal, practical or professional.
As COVID evolves into an endemic issue, we know readers are trying to navigate the “new normal.” Send your questions and issues to pandemicproblems@sfchronicle.com.
Today, The Chronicle’s Kellie Hwang fields this question from a reader wondering about immunity after taking Paxlovid.
Dear Reader: Paxlovid has been around for many months now, but some people still aren’t aware of the treatment and what it does, and who qualifies for it.
So first, a little background.
Paxlovid is an antiviral treatment made by Pfizer that treats mild to moderate COVID. It was granted emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December for people 12 and older who test positive for COVID and are at high risk for developing severe illness. This category includes anyone over 50, or who is unvaccinated or has certain medical conditions such as lung or heart disease, diabetes or cancer, or is immunocompromised.
Paxlovid is given as a three-pill dose taken over five days, consisting of two different drugs. Nirmatrelvir inhibits a COVID protein to prevent the virus from replicating, and ritonavir slows nirmatrelvir from breaking down too quickly so it stays in the body longer, according to the FDA.
The initial Pfizer study showed Paxlovid reduced the risk of COVID hospitalization or death by 89%.
The drug has made headlines recently due to what is known as “Paxlovid rebound,” which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines as a patient who completes the five-day treatment, and then develops COVID symptoms again, or tests positive again after a previous negative test.
Most notably, Paxlovid recipients President Joe Biden and his chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, had rebound cases after they had recovered from COVID and initially tested negative.
So now on to your questions. First, you ask if Paxlovid could give you a lower immunity boost than if you fought the virus off naturally.
According to Dr. Bob Wachter, UCSF’s chair of medicine, we don’t know the answer for certain, but there’s “no evidence that that’s true.”
“If you get COVID, your body…
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