NEW YORK, USA (CMC) — With the BA 2 Omicron subvariant now accounting for most of the sequenced cases in New York City, the first deputy commissioner and chief equity officer at the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), Dr K Torian Easterling, is recommending the drug Paxlovid for treatment of New Yorkers, including Caribbean nationals, who may have contracted the disease.

“New Yorkers have suffered so much throughout this pandemic, and we want to prevent any additional pain, including unnecessary hospitalisation and death,” said Easterling, who has spent more than six years in a senior leadership role at the DOHMH,

“Paxlovid and other treatments are highly effective. For anyone in New York City’s Caribbean community who tests positive for COVID, we encourage them to discuss treatments with their healthcare providers,” he added.

Easterling — a graduate of Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, who also holds a Master of Public Health from Icahn School of Medicine at Sinai in New York – said the impacts of COVID have not been felt equally, stating that DOHMH data has shown that black and Latino New Yorkers have borne the brunt of the pandemic.

“We want to make sure New Yorkers have access to the most effective treatments available,” he said. “Paxlovid is one effective treatment that can lessen symptoms and help keep you out of the hospital.

“This treatment also comes at no cost to New Yorkers and can be picked up at many pharmacies or delivered to your home within 24 hours,” he added.

Easterling stressed that Paxlovid is “safe and effective” in treating COVID-19 patients, and that, according to Pfizer, the manufacturer of Paxlovid, this pill was found, in one of its studies, to reduce the risk of hospitalisation or death by 89 per cent, compared to placebo in non-hospitalised high-risk adults.

“We have more tools than ever to prevent the worst outcomes of COVID, including testing, treatment, vaccination — which includes boosters for those who are due – that are effective against these new variants,” he said. “We also have ‘tried and true methods’, like masking in public indoor settings, when you are with large groups whose vaccination status is unknown.”