‘I Am Thrilled’: Doctor Tells CNN How New Pfizer Pill is ‘Going to Transform the Way That We Can Treat Covid-19’

CNN’s At This Hour with Kate Bouldan broke the news on Wednesday that the FDA gave emergence approval for a new pill from Pfizer to fight Covid-19 infections at home.

Bouldan asked Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency room doctor at Brown, for her immediate reaction.

“I am thrilled,” Ranney said. “I’m going to work in the emergency department tomorrow evening, and having this as an additional tool in my toolbox for patients who are coming in with diagnoses of Covid is just going to be tremendous.”

Ranney continued, “Now, this is not a magic bullet and it does not substitute for vaccination.”

“Vaccination is still better than taking a pill, and the pill will, of course, have side effects,” she noted. “But this is the first major new therapeutic that we have had in a very, very long time, and it’s going to transform the way that we can treat Covid-19 and help to avert those dreaded hospitalizations, ICU stays and deaths.”

Bouldan then dove into some of the numbers surrounding the pill:

When we had the Pfizer CEO on this show, he was talking about the data coming in and how effective they have seen it. If taken within three days of first symptoms, 89% effective, cutting the risk of hospitalization or death by 89%, and it’s extremely effective if taken within the first five days of symptoms. I think it’s 88% effective.

Dr. Ranney concluded by warning that while the pill is approved it will not be widely available right away and doubled down on the idea that it is not a substitute for vaccination.