Government urges take up of Covid antivirals as almost 500,000 in Australian stockpile near expiry date

Just 20,000 of the 1m Paxlovid antiviral drugs ordered by the former government have been prescribed to Covid-19 patients, leaving Australia with hundreds of thousands of drugs due to expire within months.

While the take-up of Covid-19 antiviral medicines has tripled since eligibility was expanded a fortnight ago, the federal government is urging more people to access the drugs amid concern about the shelf life of remaining treatments.

While the department will not reveal how many of the oral antiviral treatments are still in national stockpiles, the former government ordered 1.3m courses, comprising 1m Paxlovid and 300,000 Lagevrio.

Figures obtained by Guardian Australia show that in total, more than 116,500 people have so far received prescriptions for the Covid-19 oral treatments, with about 97,400 prescriptions filled for Lagevrio (Molnupiravir) and just 19,500 for Paxlovid.

The low number of Paxlovid treatments prescribed could leave Australia with hundreds of thousands of drugs passed their use-by-date, with the medication having a shelf life of just nine months.

The first batch of 500,000 treatments was expected to arrive in Australia early in the year, meaning many of these are likely to expire in the next few months. The former health minister, Greg Hunt, said the agreement with Pfizer would see another 500,000 arrive throughout the course of 2022.

In the US, the food and drug administration in April extended the shelf-life of Paxlovid from nine months to 12 months.

A month ago, just 5,600 antivirals were being prescribed weekly.

On 11 July, eligibility for the oral antivirals was expanded to all Australians aged 70 and over, and for those 50 and over with two or more risk factors for severe disease.

Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people aged 30 and over with two or more risk factors for severe disease, and immunocompromised people 18 and over are also eligible.

After pressure from doctors, the government also agreed to extend funding for longer telehealth appointments to allow for the prescription of antiviral drugs over the phone, which doctors say will help keep people out of the hospital system.

Butler has warned that millions more cases are possible before the winter is out as the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants continue to drive a massive third wave of cases across the country.