Govt opening up access to COVID-19 antiviral due to expiry dates
The PBS criteria for patients aged 50-59 and those aged 60-69 will be aligned.
Patients aged 50-59 with one chronic condition will be eligible for PBS-funded nirmatrelvir-ritonavir to use up a stockpile of the COVID-19 treatment before it expires.
Currently, patients in this age range with COVID-19 require two risk factors to be eligible for PBS-funded nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid), while those aged 60-69 require one risk factor.
But on Friday, the PBAC recommended aligning the criteria for the two age groups “until the Commonwealth purchased stock is exhausted or expired”.
Otherwise, the antivirals might expire before they were used, it said in a statement.
