Antivirals critical in COVID fight

Transcript: AMA Queensland Vice President Dr Nick Yim, ABC Wide Bay Breakfast with David Dowsett, Tuesday 22 November 2022

Subject:  COVID antiviral treatment

DAVID DOWSETT:   The Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service confirmed four COVID-19 positive inpatients last week. So with COVID figures on the rise, what do you need to know about antivirals and who is eligible? Let's catch up with Dr Nicholas Yim, Hervey Bay GP and Vice President and Chair of Council for AMA Queensland. Nicholas, good morning.

DR NICK YIM:   Good morning, David.

DAVID DOWSETT:   Well, first of all, what sort of things are you seeing in your practice right now? How bad is it out there?

DR NICK YIM:   Yeah. So we're definitely seeing a rise in COVID cases. Obviously, with the rise of overseas travel, cruising again, obviously, going out to restaurants, bars and clubs, we are seeing a rise in COVID numbers. But the fortuitous thing is people aren't as unwell compared to earlier in the pandemic.

DAVID DOWSETT:   When you say not as unwell, how are they getting through it? How is it affecting them?

DR NICK YIM:   I think one of the key things is this is a prime example where vaccination definitely has helped our community. So people are still getting fevers, runny nose, coughs, sore throats, but we're not seeing the huge spike in hospital numbers as what we've seen like a couple years back.

DAVID DOWSETT:   Right. So you think that's directly due to the vaccines?

DR NICK YIM:   I think definitely, without a doubt, the vaccine has definitely saved our hospital-based system.

DAVID DOWSETT:   With the vaccine, what do we know about how long they last though now? Because originally, it was like, "Well, you know what, after sort of four or five months they start to wane, they're not as effective anymore." Do we have any more clarification on that?

DR NICK YIM:   It's always a moving kettle of fish, obviously, but this is one of the key examples where for those of you in the community that haven't had their booster, please catch up with your general practitioner or your pharmacist to ensure that you've got the right number of vaccines.

DAVID DOWSETT:   What about antivirals, can you explain how they work?

DR NICK YIM:   To put simply, antivirals help with people who have been infected with COVID, prevents that virus from spreading to healthy cells into the body and multiplying, and it prevents people from becoming seriously unwell and preventing the person needing to go into hospital.

DAVID DOWSETT:   All right. So there's not everyone that can have an antiviral, is it? Who's eligible for that?

DR NICK YIM:   Yeah. The first thing is, to be eligible for the antiviral because these medications are quite high-cost, so it costs us for the community of $1,000 a pack-

DAVID DOWSETT:   Wow.

DR NICK YIM:   ... so it's expensive.

DAVID DOWSETT:   My goodness. Yeah.

DR NICK YIM:   So firstly, people need to have COVID. Then the eligibility criteria - anyone over the age of 70 is eligible. Someone who's over the age of 50 with two other risk factors such as diabetes, serious heart disease, respiratory conditions such as lung disease or asthma, kidney disease, et cetera. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, 30 and over with risk factors, and anyone who's over 18 and immunocompromised. So these are people who are on cancer drugs, chemotherapy, et cetera, et cetera.

DAVID DOWSETT:   But you need to get in pretty quick with them, don't you?

DR NICK YIM:   Yeah, absolutely. Obviously, if you have no symptoms and you test positive, touch base with your GP, or within the first five days of having symptoms. So people, I'm sure listeners are saying, "Oh, how do I get into my GP? They're all fully booked up?"

But the key thing, so in my practice, what I've told my receptionist is if anyone calls up and says they have COVID, they'll often get a phone appointment within 24 hours. So obviously, that's going to be way within the window of being treated for COVID.

DAVID DOWSETT:   So summing up, how do we all prepare for these increasing COVID numbers? Are we all doing the right thing right now or what should we do?

DR NICK YIM:   Yeah. I think just to remind the community that we've done a great job over the past couple of years in this pandemic. Definitely remain cautious. Obviously, we know that we've gone from the green to amber zone, so in some areas, please wear your mask if you are asked to. At the same time, if you haven't been boosted, please get your booster.

And if you do contract COVID, please contact your general practitioner and we can organise a telephone consultation to arrange some antivirals, if you are eligible.

DAVID DOWSETT:   Nicholas, appreciate you time this morning. Thanks very much.