Science has moved at stunning speed to develop drugs to fight COVID-19, but as we enter the year three of the pandemic, the inequities and bureaucratic complexities of our health care system make it difficult, if not impossible, for the care to reach those who need it most. A CDC analysis of 41 health care systems found that patients of color were less likely to receive monoclonal antibodies than white patients though they die at far higher rates. During the omicron wave, the process to obtain scarce, potentially lifesaving medications was so convoluted and confusing -- and varied from state to state -- that it seemed designed to keep patients from obtaining treatment. Now, high-risk people must jump through hoops to get the new antiviral pills. This webinar explores the complicated landscape for COVID therapeutics, how it reflects and magnifies long-standing issues of health care access, and what this means for the future of the pandemic. We’ll examine how the federal government allocates COVID medications to states and how they, in turn, distribute supplies. We’ll discuss the controversy over whether race should be taken into account when states prioritize access to new treatments. And we’ll look at the increasingly urgent therapeutic needs of immunocompromised patients, as the country loosens COVID restrictions and shifts toward trying to live with the virus.
