WHO says Pfizer should do more to create global access to COVID antiviral

The WHO is endorsing Pfizer’s Paxlovid antiviral to treat high-risk COVID-19 patients and urging the company and the global health community to take stronger steps to ensure that it is available to people around the world.

The international organization warned in a statement that failure to act quickly to expand availability of Paxlovid nirmatrelvir/ritonavir could lead to a replication of the inequities that left billions of people unable to access COVID-19 vaccines. “WHO is extremely concerned that — as occurred with COVID-19 vaccines — low- and middle-income countries will again be pushed to the end of the queue when it comes to accessing this treatment.”...