How to get antiviral medication for COVID

Eligibility

The FDA authorized two oral antivirals, Pfizer's Paxlovid and Merck's molnupiravir, for the treatment of COVID-19 in certain patients who:

• Have tested positive for COVID-19 and have had symptoms for 5 days or less.
• Are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death.
• Meet certain criteria depending on the antiviral.

The FDA also expanded approval of Veklury (remdesivir) to include pediatric patients 28 days of age and older weighing at least 3 kilograms (about 7 pounds) with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing who are:

• Hospitalized, or
• Not hospitalized and have mild-to-moderate COVID-19 and are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death.

Health care providers should discuss the risks and benefits of treatment with their patients.

Availability

New York State is assigned a weekly allotment of both Paxlovid and molnupiravir from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)

• HHS has created two resources to assist providers:
  • A COVID-19 Therapeutics Locator which can be used to find locations with Paxlovid or Molnupiravir available.
  • A Medication Locator which can be used to find Test to Treat locations and pharmacies to fill COVID-19 prescriptions.
• Within New York City, please refer to: COVID-19: Outpatient Therapeutic Information for Providers - NYC Health

Patients will require a prescription for Paxlovid and molnupiravir.

If you test positive for COVID-19 and do not have a regular health care provider, you can be evaluated for treatment by either:

• calling 1-888-TREAT-NY, OR
• visiting the NYS COVID-19 ExpressCare Therapeutics Access Website

Requesting Oral Antivirals

Requests for oral antiviral product should be submitted through the HHS Health Partner Order Portal (HPOP) as per the following directions:

1. Sign in to HPOP.
2. Click the green “Create Order” or “Create External Order” button on the Therapeutics Orders panel at the top left of the Provider screen.
3.  Enter the amount of Paxlovid, Renal Paxlovid, and/or Lagevrio (Molnupiravir) you are requesting for that week.

New Provider Enrollment

Step One – Complete the COVID-19 Therapeutics Provider Enrollment Form

Complete the form located within the Health Commerce System (HCS) here: https://mabrequest.health.ny.gov/nysmab/newprovider. 

Step Two – Create HPOP Account 

Once the Department has reviewed and approved your application, they will initiate the creation of an account on your behalf in the HHS Health Partner Order Portal (HPOP) system. You will receive a registration link via email from [email protected] with instructions to begin setting up your account. This link will expire within 72 hours, so it is important that registration is completed in a timely manner.

Step Three - Additional Information for HPOP Account

After registering, the following actions need to be taken in your HPOP account:

• Verify address. If your site is listed as a hub, please send your address, hours, and pharmacy contact (if different) to [email protected]. All hub addresses need to be verified by the state.
  • There is a checkbox below this field for receiving address which must be selected.
• Verify business hours.
  • There is a checkbox below this field for hours verified which must be selected
• Enter license number and expiration date (Ex. BoP, medical license, etc.).
• Select provider type and settings(s) where your facility will administer products
• Select the Therapeutics Category ‘Antiviral’ in your account

Step Four – Request Oral Antivirals

Once you’re HPOP account is active, you should follow the process outlined in the “Request Oral Antivirals” section to place orders.

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