COVID-19 antivirals available via telehealth in Minnesota

Minnesota is debuting a free telehealth option for people with COVID-19 to hasten access to antiviral treatments when they are effective.

The program allows people to present results of at-home or clinical COVID-19 tests to online providers and then have prescriptions filled at local pharmacies or delivered to their homes if they live in remote areas.

"We know that accessing therapeutics within five days of developing symptoms of COVID-19 can greatly improve outcomes and help Minnesotans to avoid severe illness or hospitalization," said Jan Malcolm, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health.

People with early or moderate COVID-19 levels are candidates for Paxlovid antiviral pills if they have risks for progression to severe disease. People who are 50 or older, or have underlying health problems such as kidney disease or diabetes, are in that risk group.

Minnesota spent $555,000 to launch the program and will use $130,000 in state-designated COVID-19 funds each month to run it. The program is in partnership with Cue Health, a San Diego manufacturer that has provided COVID-19 tests in Minnesota since 2020.

Patients download the Cue app on mobile devices to schedule virtual visits with Minnesota-licensed providers, and they can use any COVID-19 test — not just those made by the company. Free at-home COVID-19 diagnostic tests remain available through state and federal sources.

Cue's online test-to-treat platform launched this summer, but this is the first partnership with any U.S. state to expand its use. Chris Achar, Cue Health's chief strategy officer, said the platform will hopefully be replicated to hasten treatment of influenza and sexually transmitted infections.

Wastewater sampling has been a key barometer of pandemic activity in Minnesota, because it isn't dependent on whether people get tested. Viral levels in sewage at the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant in St. Paul are up 65% over the past four weeks, though they didn't increase in the most recent week.

A subvariant of the coronavirus called BQ.1 made up 61% of the viral material found at the St. Paul plant last week — a concern because some variants have shown a tendency to evade immunity from vaccinations or prior infections. Some monoclonal antibody infusions that treated earlier forms of COVID-19 have not worked against the latest viral strains.

Minnesota was among the first to offer a federal test-to-treat program at some of its COVID-19 testing sites, where people could learn their infection status and receive prescriptions that could be filled nearby or on-site.

Test-to-treat options are now available at CVS retail pharmacies and other locations as well.

Medication supplies are stable in Minnesota, which is receiving more than 1,500 courses of Paxlovid per week and has more than 27,000 courses already on hand, according to state health figures.