​can covid pills from pfizer and merck end the pandemic?

Results for PCR tests administered at low or no cost at many health care facilities can take up to a few days to come in. Rapid tests that deliver same-day results are also available —

some can even be purchased over the counter at drugstores and completed at home. However, these tend to come with out-of-pocket expenses and may not be sensitive enough to pick up an

infection early in the disease course, when the drugs are most effective. PILLS ARE NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR PREVENTION For those who have compromised immune systems or other risk factors

that make them more likely to get seriously ill from a coronavirus infection, these new oral treatments could be “a game changer,” by helping to keep them out of the hospital, David Dowdy,

M.D., associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a recent media briefing. But they “are not going to be a game

changer for prevention, the way the vaccines are,” he added. Treatments, pill or otherwise, also don’t help thwart transmission of the virus, which continues to spread at high levels

throughout most of the U.S. Its continued spread also enables it to morph into new and potentially more dangerous variants, as evidenced by the rapid and worrisome emergence of the omicron

variant in South Africa. What’s more, experts are still reviewing the safety data for the pills, and it may be that some populations are excluded from their use. Even if the FDA OKs the new

treatments and adds them to the COVID arsenal, we’re still “a long ways” from being done with the pandemic, Rupp adds. And older adults, in particular, need to continue to maintain a level

of caution while the battle continues. NEED HELP GETTING A COVID-19 VACCINE OR BOOSTER? Visit vaccines.gov or call 1-800-232-0233 (TTY: 888-720-7489) for assistance in English, Spanish,

and many other languages. His advice: If you start to experience any COVID-like symptoms, even if you are vaccinated, talk to your health care provider. “Don't delay. Go ahead and get

tested and get put on medicine that will hopefully prevent that breakthrough case from becoming more severe and landing you in the hospital,” he says. Also, get vaccinated if you haven’t

already, to help prevent the need for treatment in the first place. “The thing that would change the trajectory of the entire pandemic would be increasing vaccination rates, which is

something that we still are really struggling with in this country,” Pogue says. _Rachel Nania writes about health care and health policy for AARP. Previously she was a reporter and editor

for WTOP Radio in Washington, D.C. A recipient of a Gracie Award and a regional Edward R. Murrow Award, she also participated in a dementia fellowship with the National Press Foundation._