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** Q&A On Pfizer’s COVID-19 Antiviral Pill
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Ever since the pandemic began, scientists have been searching for a COVID-19 treatment that actually works and is easy to take. A year after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the first COVID-19 vaccines ([link removed]) -- themselves remarkable achievements -- that holy grail appears to have been realized with Paxlovid, Pfizer’s antiviral pill.

In a randomized controlled trial, unvaccinated high-risk patients who took the pills within five days of developing symptoms were nearly 90% less likely to develop severe COVID-19 than those who received a placebo.

On the basis of that trial, the FDA greenlighted the medicine in late December ([link removed]) , but supplies of Paxlovid were severely limited. Now, that shortage no longer exists, but getting the drug can still be challenging for some people. The Biden administration launched a new effort aimed at increasing uptake late last month.

With more and more people taking Paxlovid -- or wondering whether to take it -- Science Editor Jessica McDonald did a deep dive on the medicine, explaining how it works, who’s eligible to take it, and what the clinical trials show -- or, in some cases, don’t show.

For example, Jessica explains that Paxlovid hasn’t yet been shown to benefit vaccinated people, although experts expect it will still help those folks to some degree.

And she explores what’s known about a curious phenomenon in which some people taking Paxlovid appear to get better, but then test positive again and have a recurrence of symptoms.

Read her article "Q&A On Paxlovid, Pfizer’s COVID-19 Oral Antiviral ([link removed]) " to learn more.
RESOURCES
We occasionally need to create clips from TV news shows, and a great resource for this is the Internet Archive ([link removed]) , a nonprofit that has built a digital library of webpages, books, audio recordings, images and TV news shows ([link removed]) . One neat feature of the archive is its collection of fact checks ([link removed]) . The site combines TV news clips with related fact checks. For example, it applied our fact-checking article "Biden's Deficit Spin ([link removed]) " to a clip of Biden talking ([link removed]) about cutting the deficit. Scroll down to "recent facts ([link removed]) " and check it out.
FEATURED FACT
The baby formula shortage in the U.S. has put a focus on the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates baby formula. The FDA's strict regulations on formula manufacturing date to the enactment of the Infant Formula Act of 1980. The law was enacted because a “major manufacturer” in 1978 made a change to its formula that “resulted in infant formula products that contained an inadequate amount of chloride, a nutrient essential for growth and development in infants,” the FDA said in a regulatory filing ([link removed]) .
WORTHY OF NOTE
FactCheck.org once again is working with Hearst Television Inc., which will feature our work during the 2022 election cycle on it TV and radio outlets.

So far, Hearst Television's Chief National Investigative Correspondent Mark Albert did two segments based on our stories.

In the most recent fact-checking segment, Albert reviewed statements made by the Supreme Court justices about Roe v. Wade during their confirmation hearings. The segment is based on our article "What Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett Said About Roe at Confirmation Hearings ([link removed]) ." You can view it, among other places, on the WLWT5 website ([link removed]) in Cincinnati.

We first partnered with Hearst ([link removed]) during the 2020 elections.
REPLY ALL

Reader: Someone told me that the reason for the lack of baby formula in the United States was that it was sent to the border children, the immigrants coming into the United States. Is it true?

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: As required by a 1997 legal settlement known as the Flores settlement ([link removed]) , the U.S. must meet certain standards of care when detaining minors, including providing them with food.

The National Conference of State Legislatures explains the agreement in a blog post ([link removed]) in which it writes: “Under the agreement, INS is required to place minors in the least restrictive setting appropriate to the child’s age and special needs, provide notice of rights, safe and sanitary facilities, toilets and sinks, drinking water and food, medical assistance, temperature control, supervision, and contact with family members, among other requirements.” A 2016 ruling confirmed that the Flores settlement applied to unaccompanied and accompanied minors.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has established a standard of care, known as Family Residential Standards ([link removed]) , to comply with “its obligations under current law, court orders, and regulations.” The “food service ([link removed]) ” section of that policy states, in part: "The FSA will ensure the food service program provides for the minimum nutritional needs of toddlers and infants, ranging in age from newborn to four years of age."

But feeding children at the border isn’t the cause of the shortage. We wrote about the causes in our story “Baby Formula Shortage Fuels Misleading Partisan Claims ([link removed]) .” As we wrote, “the shortage has been caused by a recall and plant shutdown by a major manufacturer and ongoing supply-chain issues due to the pandemic.”


** Wrapping Up
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Here's what else we've got for you this week:
* "Pfizer Documents Show Vaccine Is Highly Effective, Contrary to Social Media Posts ([link removed]) ": The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine showed a final efficacy of 91% against symptomatic illness in its phase 3 trial. Social media posts wrongly claim recently released Pfizer documents show the vaccine is “12% effective.” That appears to be a misreading of data released more than a year ago.
* "Plan B Pills Still Legal in Tennessee and Missouri, Contrary to Social Media Claims ([link removed]) ": Proposed legislation in Tennessee and Missouri would not regulate Plan B contraception pills, and experts say state “trigger laws” that would take effect if Roe v. Wade were overturned will not ban methods of birth control. But social media posts falsely claim that both states have banned Plan B – the morning-after pill.
* "Navarro Falsely Links Fauci to Pandemic Origin ([link removed]) ": The U.S. indirectly funded some bat coronavirus research at a lab in Wuhan, China. But those experiments could not have led to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, because the viruses used were very different. Yet former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro repeated a false claim that Dr. Anthony Fauci “killed a lot of people” by funding the lab.
* "COVID-19 Vaccines Were Available Before Biden Took Office, Contrary to False Tweet ([link removed]) ": When Joe Biden was sworn in as president, two COVID-19 vaccines had already been authorized and millions of people nationwide had been vaccinated against the disease. But in a May 12 tweet touting economic progress made under Biden, the White House falsely claimed that “there was no vaccine available” at the time he was inaugurated.
* "Baby Formula Shortage Fuels Misleading Partisan Claims ([link removed]) ": A shortage of baby formula has provoked misleading partisan claims that suggest President Joe Biden is responsible for the “bare shelves.” But the shortage has been caused by a recall and plant shutdown by a major manufacturer and ongoing supply-chain issues due to the pandemic.
* "Gates’ Investment in Startup Firm Is Not Related to Baby Formula Shortage ([link removed]) ": A fund backed by Bill Gates has invested in a startup working to develop lab-manufactured breast milk, but it won’t reach the market for several years. Yet, social media posts make baseless claims that Gates is behind the current baby formula shortage — which stems from supply-chain issues and the shutdown at a major manufacturing plant.
* "Misleading Late Attack on Kathy Barnette in Pennsylvania Senate Race ([link removed]) ": A late attack ad from a super PAC supporting one of Kathy Barnette’s opponents in the Pennsylvania Senate Republican primary makes several misleading claims about Barnette, who has surged in the polls.

Have a question about COVID-19 and the vaccines? Visit our SciCheck page ([link removed]) for answers. It's available in Spanish ([link removed]) , too.
Donate to Support Our Work ([link removed])

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