As new variant spreads, a crucial drug to protect the most vulnerable goes vastly underused
Jennifer Padgett has spent 2 1/2 years terrified for her immunocompromised daughter, Hannah. Hannah catches pneumonia like mosquito bites; what could Covid wreak? Their whole family locked down in the early days, rushed to get vaccines when they became available and kept masking and avoiding indoor dining in their small southern town even after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention loosened restrictions.
So Padgett was shocked last month when, during a Google search on new variants, she learned there was a drug available to protect patients like her daughter, a 23-year-old childhood cancer survivor whose immune system can’t make enough antibodies. Even more startling: It had been available since December. How had she never heard of it?
Her confusion only grew when she set up a doctor’s appointment with Hannah to request it. The doctor initially thought she was asking about Paxlovid, a pill for treating Covid, and then a different therapy. Finally, the physician pulled out her laptop, googled it, and realized that she had been in the dark.
