I can only conclude that most people do not much care about Covid.
...or people don’t have the resources to be able to afford Paxlovid. ...or ‘have you had a positive test in the past 14 days; if so you cannot work’-style questions, especially combined with nontrivial false-positive rates, have lead people to avoid getting tested in the first place. ...or people think that the cost to get tests outweighs the expected benefit. ...or people think that the cost to get Paxlovid outweighs the expected benefit. ...or people have started to discount ‘do X to stop Covid; we really mean it this time’ in general. ...or people simply haven’t heard of Paxlovid.
64% (!)[1] of the US is living paycheque-to-paycheque. Missing a couple of shifts due to having to stay home can be the difference between making rent and becoming homeless.
Paxlovid itself is free at point-of-sale (or at least the current supply is), so there’s no monetary concern.
See “paxlovid is free”.
Admittedly, I am not super familiar with the US hospital system, but I believe Paxlovid is only available by prescription—which itself is a nontrivial cost for many.
These patients have already been tested.
Not only did they get tested but they tested positive.
They already have covid, they aren’t being asked to do something unusual and unpleasant to prevent an uncertain future harm.
They’re literally being offered a prescription by a doctor and turning it down.
Note this quote:
Paxlovid was expected to be a major tool in the fight against COVID after it reduced hospitalizations or deaths in high-risk patients by around 90% in a clinical trial.
…
“We’re just not seeing as many people coming in for testing,”
A possible reason for being cautious about prescribing Paxlovid to just anyone (regardless of underlying risk factors and severity) from a public health standpoint is the issue of rebounds. The Paxlovid might hold the infection at bay for a while, and then people could start testing positive again a few days later, so quarantine protocols become a bit more complex.
...or people don’t have the resources to be able to afford Paxlovid.
...or ‘have you had a positive test in the past 14 days; if so you cannot work’-style questions, especially combined with nontrivial false-positive rates, have lead people to avoid getting tested in the first place.
...or people think that the cost to get tests outweighs the expected benefit.
...or people think that the cost to get Paxlovid outweighs the expected benefit.
...or people have started to discount ‘do X to stop Covid; we really mean it this time’ in general.
...or people simply haven’t heard of Paxlovid.
64% (!)[1] of the US is living paycheque-to-paycheque. Missing a couple of shifts due to having to stay home can be the difference between making rent and becoming homeless.
https://ir.lendingclub.com/news/news-details/2022/48-Percent-of-Americans-with-Annual-Incomes-over-100000-Live-Paycheck-to-Paycheck-9-percentage-points-higher-than-first-reported-in-June-2021/default.aspx—admittedly not a giant study.
These seem mostly non-responsive to the described situation.
Paxlovid itself is free at point-of-sale (or at least the current supply is), so there’s no monetary concern.
These patients have already been tested.
Not only did they get tested but they tested positive.
See “paxlovid is free”.
They already have covid, they aren’t being asked to do something unusual and unpleasant to prevent an uncertain future harm.
They’re literally being offered a prescription by a doctor and turning it down.
Admittedly, I am not super familiar with the US hospital system, but I believe Paxlovid is only available by prescription—which itself is a nontrivial cost for many.
Note this quote:
(Emphasis added.)
A possible reason for being cautious about prescribing Paxlovid to just anyone (regardless of underlying risk factors and severity) from a public health standpoint is the issue of rebounds. The Paxlovid might hold the infection at bay for a while, and then people could start testing positive again a few days later, so quarantine protocols become a bit more complex.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/04/21/metro/puzzling-phenomenon-patients-report-rebound-covid-19-symptoms-after-taking-antiviral-paxlovid/