Just before Christmas of 2021, the FDA awarded Pfizer Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for its new COVID pill. Paxlovid, as the drug is called, has been heralded as a quick and effective way to combat the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, with many hoping that a pill form of treatment will help persuade the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have declined COVID shots.
But there may be a fatal flaw with Pfizer’s latest drug: Patients who take Paxlovid are reporting secondary cases of COVID-19.