5 ms·

So basically they're expecting everyone to have a pack in their medicine cabinet, next to the aspirin and bandages?

by Hamuko 5y ago

sudosysgen 5y ago
Well, given they're selling it for thousands of dollars, I think not.
- Hamuko 5y ago
  Wait, if it costs thousand of dollars, isn't it basically automatically going to be going only for the serious cases?
  - sudosysgen 5y ago
    No, because it's priced so that the expected cost of untreated illness is still going to be higher. Hospitalization is very very expensive! Also, they will probably be bought in bulk by the government and negotiated down by insurance companies to less than a thousand dollars per treatment,
    - Hamuko 5y ago
      But doesn't it still rely on a person getting early symptoms of COVID-19 seeking medical aid? I can't really imagine someone developing a cough and then immediately heading to their physician to get their antiviral pills.
      - sudosysgen 5y ago
        It doesn't have to a prescription, they could distribute them after a telehealth meeting, or on the same basis as vaccines, or at any pharmacy after a talk with the pharmacian, etc...
      - rsynnott 5y ago
        ... Wait, can you not? That's basically how tamiflu works. And one relic of the pandemic will be that at-home covid testing will be cheap, easy and available in a way that at-home flu testing is not (antigen tests are already cheap and easily available in Europe, and soon will be worldwide). Now, I can imagine that not _all_ cases will be given the antiviral automatically. If you're a vaccinated 18 year old with no comorbidities, say, that is probably not going to be cost-effective (though, well, we'll see what happens with long covid); the chances of you landing in hospital are just very low. But if you're an overweight unvaccinated 60 year old, there's quite a good chance of you turning into a hideously expensive ICU case, and it probably makes sense to provide the treatment.
deelowe 5y ago
My guess would be to expand the current vaccine initiatives to include this medicine. Have the sniffles? Stop by CVS and get dosed. I can envision a cost model where this approach works out better for them over time.

So basically they're expecting everyone to have a pack in their medicine cabinet, next to the aspirin and bandages?

by Hamuko 5y ago

So basically they're expecting everyone to have a pack in their medicine cabinet, next to the aspirin and bandages?

sudosysgen 5y ago

Well, given they're selling it for thousands of dollars, I think not.

Hamuko 5y ago
Wait, if it costs thousand of dollars, isn't it basically automatically going to be going only for the serious cases?
- sudosysgen 5y ago
  No, because it's priced so that the expected cost of untreated illness is still going to be higher. Hospitalization is very very expensive! Also, they will probably be bought in bulk by the government and negotiated down by insurance companies to less than a thousand dollars per treatment,
  - Hamuko 5y ago
    But doesn't it still rely on a person getting early symptoms of COVID-19 seeking medical aid? I can't really imagine someone developing a cough and then immediately heading to their physician to get their antiviral pills.
    - sudosysgen 5y ago
      It doesn't have to a prescription, they could distribute them after a telehealth meeting, or on the same basis as vaccines, or at any pharmacy after a talk with the pharmacian, etc...
    - rsynnott 5y ago
      ... Wait, can you not? That's basically how tamiflu works. And one relic of the pandemic will be that at-home covid testing will be cheap, easy and available in a way that at-home flu testing is not (antigen tests are already cheap and easily available in Europe, and soon will be worldwide). Now, I can imagine that not _all_ cases will be given the antiviral automatically. If you're a vaccinated 18 year old with no comorbidities, say, that is probably not going to be cost-effective (though, well, we'll see what happens with long covid); the chances of you landing in hospital are just very low. But if you're an overweight unvaccinated 60 year old, there's quite a good chance of you turning into a hideously expensive ICU case, and it probably makes sense to provide the treatment.

deelowe 5y ago

My guess would be to expand the current vaccine initiatives to include this medicine. Have the sniffles? Stop by CVS and get dosed. I can envision a cost model where this approach works out better for them over time.