A second case of COVID could follow the use of Paxlovid, expert says

A second case of COVID could follow the use of Paxlovid, expert says

By Brittany Sweeney
August 2, 2022

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – President Joe Biden’s new positive COVID-19 test result is what some health care professionals call a “rebound effect,” after he completed a 5-day medication called Paxlovid, a medication designed to prevent hospitalization and death in people who contract COVID and may be at high risk. 

A Lehigh Valley physician said last week that the seeming relapse is not uncommon.

Dr. Jeffrey Jahre, senior vice president of Medical and Academic Affairs at St. Luke’s University Health Network, said up to 20% of the people who take Paxlovid test positive even after the medication is complete.

“That is what we call a rebound effect. What is the rebound effect? It means that after people take the full five days of Paxlovid and they’re feeling much better, days to a week, two weeks afterwards, they seem to have another case of COVID-19,” Jahre said. 

In most situations, Jahre said, the second episode is less severe than the first and the patient does not have to take another round of medication. 

But even if a pharmacist prescribes it, he said, people taking Paxlovid should be in contact with their primary care doctor.

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