Quick Take
A social media post has shared a graph to claim Paxlovid starts working before taken. We fact-checked and found the claim to be False.
The Claim
In a Twitter post, a social media user shared a graph to show blue and orange lines starting from zero, which is the intersection of the X-axis and Y-axis. Social media users interpreted the intersection as the time when people first took Paxlovid.
The post is embedded below:
Fact Check
What is Paxlovid?
Paxlovid is an authorized pill taken by mouth to treat mild to moderate cases of COVID among people aged 12 and older.
Does a graph show that Paxlovid starts working before being taken?
No. Social media users have misinterpreted the graph. Day 0, which is the intersection of the X-axis and Y-axis on the graph is the day of the first PCR test. Day 0 does not depict the time when people first took Paxlovid. Practically, it is not possible for any medicine to work, before it has been consumed.
We ran a Google reverse image search and found the original research paper from where the graph is taken.
Nirmatrelvir–ritonavir is another name of paxlovid. From the research paper, it is clear that the graph shows patients who have taken the medicine, experience a lower risk of mortality and a shorter hospital stay compared to patients who did not take Paxlovid.
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