MARIA: THE FDA JUST AUTHORIZED THE FIRST PILL TO TREAT COVID-.19 SO, LET’S TAKE A CLOSER LOOKT A THIS DEVELOPMENT, AND GET TO SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS. FOR THAT, WE TURN TO DR. SHIRA DORON, THE HOSPITAL EPIDEMIOLOGIST AT TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER. ED: DR. DORON, THANKS AS ALWAYS FOR BEING HERE. LES T’START WITH THAT PFIZER PILL, HOW DOES THIS AUTHORIZATION CHANGE THE FIGHT AGAINST COVID AND WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT ITS EFFECTIVENESS AGAINST THE SURGING, OMICRON STRA?IN >> THIS PILL HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE A GAME CHANGER. IT DOES WORK AGAINST OMICRON. IT KEEPS PEOPLE OUT OF THE HOSPITAL. WE DO NEETOD HAVE ENOUGH OF IT TO GIVE TO EVERYONE WHO NEEDS IT. WE NEED TO GET IT TO PEOPLE EARLY AND THEIR INFECTION. WHICH THEY HAVE TO RECOGNIZE THE SYMPTOMS AND GET A TEST AND GET HOLD OF THE MEDICATIONS. I’M LITTLE WORRIED ABOUT THE LOGISTICS OF THAT. MARIA: WE HAVE BEEN GETTING A LOT OF QUESTIONS FROM VIEWERS, SO LET’S GET TO A FEW OF THOSE. JOYCE WRITES, I RECENTLY TESTED POSITIVE FOR T OHERIGINAL COVID-19 VARIANT AND JUST FINISHED WITH MY SYMPTOMS. IS IT POSSIBLE TO W NOBECOME INFECTED WITH THE OMICRON VARIANT WITHIN THE NEXT THREE MONTHS OR SORO DO I HAVE IMMUNITY FROM ALL STRAINS? >> I CAN’T EXACTLY QUANTIFY THAT RISK AT THIS POINT. YOU CAN GET OMICRON AFTER INFECTION WITH DELTA OR ANOTHER STRAIN OF COVID. THE PREVIOUS INFECTION IS LIKELY TO PROTECTOU Y AGAINST SEVERE DISEASE. SOUTH AFRICAN DATA SWSHO THAT PREVIOUS INFECTION PLUS TWO DOSES OF VACCINE IS PROTECTIVE AGAINST OMICRON AS THEY ARE AGAINST THE ORIGINAL STRAIN OF THE VIRUS. DEFINITELYET G VACCINATED EVEN IF YOU BEEN INFECTED. ED: HERE’S ONE FROM REBECCA, WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE OMICRON VARIANT AND LONG COVID? EVEN THOUGH WE’RE HEARING THAT CASES ARE TENDING TO BE MORE MILD WITH OMICRON, LONG COVID STILL OCCURS IN MILD CASES? >>THE DEFINITION OF LONG COVID IS SYMPTOMS THAT LAST MORE THAN FOUR WEEKS. WE’VE ONLY KNOWN ABOUT OMICRON FOR FOUR WEEKS. IT’S TOO SNOO TO KNOW HOW THAT GOES TOGETHER. MILD COVID CAN CAUSE LONG COVID. WE KNOW VACCINATION CUTS THAT RISK IN HALF. MARIA: FINALLY, HERE’S ONE THAT’S PROBABLY ON A LOT OF PARENTS’ MINDS, RACHEL ASKS, IF A COLLEGE STUDENT TESTS POSITIVE AFTER RETURNING HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, ARE OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS WHO ARE ALREADY BOOSTED CONSIDERED CLOSE CONTACTS? SHOULD THEY QUARANTINE AND FOR HOW LONG? >> FULLY VACCINATED PEOPLE DON’T HAVE TO QUARANTINE. RIGHT WNO FULLY VACCINATED IS STILL DEFINE TWO DOSES OF PFIZER OR MODERNA OR ONE DOSE OF JOHNSON & JOHNSON. THE CDC COULD CHANGE THAT DEFINITION AT SOME POINT IN THE MEANTIME, OMICRON IS VERY CONTAGIOUS. IF YOU’RE EXPOSED TO SOMEONE WITH INFECT NOW, YOU GOTO TBE CAREFUL. ED: JUST TO MAKE SURE, YOU SAY FULLY VACCINATED ISHE T TWO SHOTS NOT THE TWO SHOTS AND THE BOOSTER? >> RIGHT. THE DEFINITION OF FULLY VACCINATED, THE PURPOSE OF QUARANTINE HASOT N CHANGED. ED: DR. DORON, THANK YOU. MARIA: ALL WEEK WE’RE GETTING OUR EXPERTS TO ANSWER AS MANY OF YOUR COVID QUESTIONS AS POSSIBLE ON NEWSCENTER 5 AT 4:30 AND 5:30. EMAIL US YOUR QUESTIONS TOSK A AT WCV

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Pfizer’s COVID pill ‘has the potential to be a game-changer’

Updated: 4:57 PM EST Dec 22, 2021

“It does work against omicron and it keeps people out of the hospital, but we do need to have enough of it to give to everyone who needs it,” said Dr. Shira Doron, an epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center.

BOSTON —

“It does work against omicron and it keeps people out of the hospital, but we do need to have enough of it to give to everyone who needs it,” said Dr. Shira Doron, an epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center.

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