COVID-19 update – oral meds for COVID-19, booster update, public service announcement about prescription refills

Oral anti-viral medication against the SAR-CoV2 virus

There will now likely be two oral medications (one from Pfizer and one from Merck) that directly treat COVID-19. Hopefully they will available in the US within the next month.

This is great news, because we will have ways to protect against the illness from vaccines as well as a direct antiviral treatment for those who get ill.

Despite the good news, Colorado is feeling the pinch of the delta variant wave of infections as hospitals are filling up again. Some elective surgeries are being postponed in the hopes of helping hospitals maintain sufficient staff for more ill patients.

So continue to be cautious in public settings, wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing, particularly in crowded settings.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are now indicated for everyone at or over age 5, as we now have good effectiveness and safety data. For a more discerning critique of the use of these vaccines for those under age 18, I refer you to your pediatrician.

Booster update

There is really no update here, but I just wanted to reiterate that the Pfizer and Moderna boosters are highly effective at preventing severe illness in COVID-19. Again, severe illness means ill enough to need hospitalization. How well they prevent less than severe illness is not known. But they definitely restore a significant degree of protection against the need for hospitalization and subsequent death.

I am still an advocate of getting the Pfizer or Moderna series, even if you have previously received the J&J vaccine. They are simply superior in their protection.

Prescription Refill Public Service Announcement – Pharmacies telling you we have not responded to a refill request

I don’t like to do a PSA like this in the forum, but this problem has reached epidemic proportions, and I need to reach out to clarify the reality of the situation.

Daily we have people calling the office, asking why we have not authorized their refills, because the pharmacy has told them that I have not responded to a refill request. Occasionally I even hear that I denied a refill, when in fact I never even knew of the refill request. (I do not deny refills unless we have discussed it previously.)

99% of the time the reality is that your refill request has not shown up in our electronic prescription refill box.

I want you to know what happens at the office in terms of addressing refill requests.

1. During the week I am checking refill requests at least 10 times a day in the electronic health record.
2. Anytime during the week when you call the office for a refill, I get a note and then send it in when I have a moment.
3. I occasionally get texts for refills and send them in the same day when the opportunity allows.
4. During the weekend or when away from the office (with rare exceptions) I check for refill requests a minimum of once a day.
5. I am checking for refills at least 60 times a week. Given this workflow, I can’t imagine how I could miss or ignore a refill request.

We are all about getting refills taken care of promptly. That means within 24 hours of being notified. It is also one of the easiest things we can do for you. It is even easier to do a refill than to schedule an appointment! We like easy!

There are many steps in the system from the time you call the pharmacy for a refill to the time when I see it in our electronic record to authorize. Where the system is breaking down, I do not know. But I can say with assurance that it is not on our end.

The current standard for responding to refill requests is somewhere between 2-5 days. 90+% of the time your refill request is fulfilled within 24 hours. It may be occasionally longer on the weekend but exceedingly rarely takes as long as 48 hours.

Please be patient with the pharmacies and especially my staff. I suspect this discord is part of the general social upheaval in all its ramifications caused by the extreme circumstances of the pandemic. Hopefully with time, this too will settle down.