Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill helps reduce COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in the elderly but provides no strong benefit for those under 65, according to a new study.
Researchers in Israel gleaned data from Clalit Health Services, a health care organization that covers over half of the entire population in the country.
They analyzed data from the 109,213 participants eligible to get the pill, known as nirmatrelvir or Paxlovid, between Jan. 9 and March 10.
Among the elderly eligible for the treatment, about 2,500, or 3 percent, received it. Hospitalizations and deaths were much more likely to occur in those who did not get the pill, according to the study, with 762 hospitalizations and 151 deaths occurring among the untreated and 14 hospitalizations and 2 deaths among the treated….