Pharmacists in Saskatchewan can now prescribe Paxlovid to people who are COVID-19 positive, the province announced Thursday.

A list of the 170 participating pharmacies is available on the government website.

Selected doctors and nurses also have the authority to prescribe the drugs.

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Paxlovid is only recommended for people over the age of 18 with the following conditions:

• Test positive (PCR or rapid test) with mild or moderate COVID-19 symptoms;
• You have no medical conditions that would make treatment inappropriate;
• Do not take medications that can cause potential drug interactions; and
• are immunocompromised, regardless of vaccination status;
• 70 years and older with identified risk factors, regardless of vaccination status or
• Meet one of the following criteria:
  • have a medical condition that puts you at high risk and are not fully vaccinated; or
  • 55 to 69 years old and not fully vaccinated.

Treatment with Paxlovid starts within five days of the onset of symptoms and is not used to prevent COVID-19 infection.

The government added that treatments for COVID-19 “do not offer the same protection as vaccinations”.

The province also reported 465 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 during the week of May 8-14.

The Omicron BA.2 subline accounted for 70.9 percent of the variants of concern reported last week.

There were 22 newly reported COVID-19 deaths last week.

As of May 18, 270 patients with COVID-19 were hospitalized, including 14 in the adult intensive care unit.

Of the 270 patients, 164 had an incidental infection.

As of May, 81 percent of the population aged 5 and over has completed a series of COVID-19 vaccinations.

Of the population aged 18 and over, 52.3 percent have received at least one booster vaccination.