Background
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an
infectious disease that shortly progressed into an unprecedented pandemic spreading all over the world and causing millions of deaths. Many new COVID-19-specific
therapies were suggested for the treatment of the patients at increased risk of progression to severe disease, especially those who were unvaccinated and those with a likely inadequate
vaccine response. One of the preferred
therapies in this setting is
Paxlovid, a combination of the oral
protease inhibitors nirmatrelvir and
ritonavir.
Paxlovid was authorized by the Saudi Ministry of Health for the treatment of mild to moderate
COVID-19. This study aimed to report the effects of
Paxlovid on the mortality of the
COVID-19 patients at Dammam Medical Complex (DMC) and Qatif Complex Hospital (QCH), two hospitals in the Eastern Provence of Saudi Arabia, and compare the results with the international data. Methods The study was a retrospective study that included all the
COVID-19 patients who were treated with
Paxlovid at DMC and QCH between January and December 2022. Those patients were compared with control
COVID-19 patients who did not receive
Paxlovid. The patients were included irrespective of their
COVID-19 vaccination status. All the patients were managed according to the Saudi Ministry of Health guidelines. They were followed up through the
infectious disease virtual clinics and were monitored for ICU admissions and death of any cause for three months following their
COVID-19 infections. Results A total of 92
COVID-19 patients were included. The patients consisted of 47 male and 45 female patients (51.09% and 48.91%, respectively). The mean ± standard deviation for the patients' age was 55.58±19.25 years. Twenty-eight patients were given
Paxlovid (30.43%). Eighteen patients (19.57%) died. The use of
Paxlovid was associated with lower ICU admissions (0.0% vs. 18.75%, P value <0.05) and with lower deaths (3.57% vs 26.56%, P value <0.05) but the
Paxlovid group included less immunocompromised patients (7.14% vs. 60.94%, P value <0.001),
cancer patients (0.0% vs. 42.19%, P value <0.001), and
chronic kidney disease patients (7.14% vs. 29.69%, P value <0.05) than the control group. Conclusion This study suggests that
Paxlovid is highly effective in reducing the risk of severe
COVID-19 or mortality. However, larger studies with better qualities are needed for a full assessment of the role of
Paxlovid in
COVID-19 management in Saudi Arabia.