HARRISBURG, Pa. - Lehigh Valley hospitals are among the first in the nation to get federal shipments of an antiviral drug to treat patients with COVID-19. The Department of Health says that more than 50 facilities across the state have received doses of remdesivir.
State Health Secretary Rachel Levine says there is limited information about the safety and effectiveness of the drug, but it has been shown in recent clinical trials to shorten the emergency treatment recovery time.
“I do want to caution that remdisivir is not a cure for COVID-19. It is not given in pill form, it's given in intravenous form to severely ill patients in the hospital,” said Levine.
Nearly 150 vials were distributed to hospitals in Lehigh and Northampton Counties. Lehigh Valley Health Network Cedar Crest received the most in the area as it has one of the highest rates of COVID-19 in the state, averaging about 90 cases over the past week. Levine says the state will get more of the shipments weekly.