As members may have read and/or experienced, COVID cases are on the rise around the country.  Given this concerning information, we followed up with the Department of Health Services, COVID-19 Therapeutics Team to confirm the process for obtaining Paxlovid and other anti-virals and to ensure that there was amply supply within Wisconsin.  The Therapeutics Team has replied to Rick Abrams, WHCA/WiCAL CEO,  as follows:

“At the moment, USG is only allocating Lagevrio, Paxlovid and Renal Paxlovid to states for allocation to pharmacies for the treatment of COVID 19. LTC Facilities should work with their local pharmacies for prescriptions. For pharmacies to be able to order COVID therapeutics they need to be registered in the Health Partner Ordering Portal (HPOP). If any LTC pharmacies are not in HPOP, they would need to create a profile prior to ordering the therapeutics.  Currently we have ample supply of therapeutics.

I would like to point out that DHS still has its COVID 19 Treatment Telehealth program. This program offers free virtual telehealth services to quickly connect with a clinician who can determine eligibility for this treatment and prescribe it, free of charge. Prescriptions may be sent via home delivery or picked up at one of over 700 pharmacies throughout Wisconsin. Insurance is not required. Please see the link below for additional information. https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/telehealth.htm. In addition, you can also find pharmacies with COVID therapeutics on ASPR’s COVID locator map. https://covid-19-therapeutics-locator-dhhs.hub.arcgis.com/ “

You also may be aware that Velkury is also an effective treatment for the current strains of COVID-19 and this is available commercially for pharmacies.

Questions?  You can direct any questions that you or your members might have to the email address below:  DHSOperations@dhs.wisconsin.gov”