14 July 2022 - Pharmac has confirmed today that it is further widening access to the three anti-viral treatments it funds for treating early COVID-19 to more than 400,000 more New Zealanders if they get the virus.

“Effective from Monday 18 July 2022, the access criteria for the antiviral treatments for COVID-19 will be widened to include a larger priority population of people at risk of severe illness from COVID-19 infection,” says Dr Hughes. “This includes all people aged 75 years and over and those who have been admitted previously to an Intensive Care Unit directly as a result of COVID-19. The number of factors Māori and Pacific Peoples are required to have to access these antiviral treatments will reduce, with greater emphasis placed on factors that are most predictive of poor outcomes from COVID-19 infection including age and vaccination status.”

Read PHARMAC press release