Dr. Anthony Fauci, who tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month, said Tuesday he experienced a rebound of symptoms after finishing a course of Pfizer’s anti-viral medication Paxlovid.
What began as mild symptoms for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease director soon worsened and he opted to take the drug.
“When [the symptoms] increased, given my age, I went on Paxlovid for five days and I felt really quite well, really just a bit of rhinorrhea and fatigue,” Fauci, 81, said at the Foreign Policy’s Global Health Forum.
Fauci said he then tested negative for three straight days after finishing the course of the medication but on the fourth day of testing he showed up positive again and experienced worsening symptoms.
“It was sort of what people are referring to as a ‘Paxlovid rebound,’” he said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
“COVID-19 rebound has been reported to occur between 2 and 8 days after initial recovery and is characterized by a recurrence of COVID-19 symptoms or a new positive viral test after having tested negative. A brief return of symptoms may be part of the natural history of SARS-CoV-2 … independent of treatment with Paxlovid and regardless of vaccination status.”
Fauci said he then started a second course of Paxlovid, despite the CDC stating there is “no evidence” doing so is needed.
The Food and Drug Administration said much the same: “there is no evidence of benefit at this time for a longer course of treatment (e.g., 10 days rather than the 5 days recommended in the Provider Fact Sheet for Paxlovid) or repeating a treatment course of Paxlovid in patients with recurrent COVID-19 symptoms following completion of a treatment course.”
Fauci, who is vaccinated and double boosted, praised the anti-viral medication in an interview with The New York Times, arguing Paxlovid worked in keeping him out of the hospital, which is what officials have argued the vaccine does.