Taking Paxlovid for 15 days is safe, but it doesn't reduce symptoms of long COVID, according to a Stanford (Calif.) Medicine study published June 7 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Long COVID affects about 6.9% of adults, according to the CDC, and women are slightly more likely than men to get it.
"While there are now improved therapies and treatment practices for acute COVID, there's nothing FDA-approved for long COVID, people continue to suffer, and the numbers keep piling up," Linda Geng, MD, PhD, co-author of the study and clinical associate professor of primary care and population health at Stanford, said in a news release.
The Stanford Medicine-led study enrolled 155 participants, all of whom were diagnosed with either moderate or severe long COVID, lasting at least three or more months. One group of participants were given Paxlovid in doses of either 300 mg or 100 mg twice daily for 15 days, while the other group was given a placebo.
Researchers found "no statistically significant difference in the model-derived severity outcome" between the groups, they wrote.
While there were not any significant findings related to Paxlovid's effect on long COVID symptoms, the study importantly proved that the medicine can safely be taken for at least 15 consecutive days.