The oral antiviral combination nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) is funded for treating patients with COVID-19 in the community. This resource for prescribers and dispensing pharmacists links to Pharmac's access criteria (updated 1 October 2023) and to comprehensive drug interaction guidance.
Available evidence indicates that Evusheld is useful against only a small number of the variants of COVID-19 in New Zealand. It is not routinely recommended for use. Pharmac continues to review this regularly.
Access criteria for the oral antiviral molnupiravir (Lagevrio) changed on 1 October 2023, and are different from those for the preferred antivirals, nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) or remdesivir (Veklury). This resource provides a summary comparison of molnupiravir with nirmatrelvir/ritonavir.
Nirmatrelvir with ritonavir (Paxlovid), a new oral antiviral medicine for adults with COVID-19, is now available for community use. In people at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, treatment with Paxlovid has been shown to reduce the incidence of hospitalisation or death. However, for certain patients it will not be safe or appropriate to use Paxlovid.