Where can you get free COVID treatment in Manatee and Sarasota counties? What to know
Free COVID-19 antiviral medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration are available to residents of Manatee and Sarasota counties.
The treatments help prevent the risk of death or hospitalization by up to 88%.
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System and its community partners have united to form the Sarasota County COVID Therapy Coalition to help educate people on COVID-19 treatment options in the region.
“You have to take the oral antiviral within five days of onset symptoms,” said Dr. Manuel Gordillo, medical director of Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s Infection Prevention and Control. “If you take the drug on the sixth day or after, it wouldn’t work.”
Monoclonal antibody injections are also a treatment option, depending on the variant, and are most effective within seven days of symptoms.
Paxlovid and Molnupiravir, both oral antiviral medications, are available at most CVS and Walgreen pharmacies in Manatee and Sarasota counties. The medications require a prescription from a doctor.
“This has to be an equitable process,” Gordillo said, “Those who are not privileged enough to have a physician also need access to these important medications.”
In clinical trials, Paxlovid decreased the chances of critical illness or death by 88%, monoclonal antibodies by 70% and Molnupiravir by 30%.
The FDA-approved oral anti-viral treatments are for high-risk cases only, those 65 and older and people between 12 and 65 who have poor health conditions like diabetes or renal disease.
For the latest information and updates on monoclonal antibody injections, visit Sarasota Memorial’s website at http://smh.com/treatcovid
This story was originally published May 19, 2022 at 4:12 PM.
