Monadnock Community Hospital spokesman Phil McFarland said patients there have been asking for Paxlovid, the drug used to treat COVID-19, and that the hospital has a sufficient supply.
As of Aug. 1, the hospital reported that it is treating COVID-19 patients but did not wish to report the total number in order to safeguard patient privacy in a small community. The hospital also reports the number of total patients treated or deaths specifically attributable to COVID-19 over a longer period of time are not readily available.
“[A] diagnosis of COVID-19 does not mean it was the cause of death,” McFarland said. “We admit many people who never would have known they had COVID if we hadn’t tested them [and] these [are considered] incidental findings.”
On July 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revised the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir), to authorize state-licensed pharmacists to prescribe Paxlovid to eligible patients, with certain limitations to ensure appropriate patient assessment and prescribing of Paxlovid.
McFarland said “We do offer treatment when medically necessary [and] we have not experienced any shortages of the drug.”
The hospital also says a bivalent booster shot to treat Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 is likely to be available by September. According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) on July 29, DHHS, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), has agreed to purchase 66 million doses of Moderna’s bivalent COVID-19 vaccine booster candidate for potential use in the fall and winter.
Regarding a new vaccine, McFarland said the hospital does not have any date expectations, “although they are in progress,” and that there has been a recent application for a new non-RNA vaccine for EUA.
Children under 12 are treated in the emergency department and as outpatients, McFarland said, adding that children under 5 years old are being vaccinated.
“We do not admit [these children], they would be transferred to a hospital with pediatric inpatient care unit,” he said.