Antiviral pills being rolled out, but you won’t be able to just walk up and get one

Pharmacies were key to rolling out vaccines to millions of Americans quickly, and under a new pandemic response plan promoted by President Joe Biden, drugstores will be deployed once again to deliver a powerful tool against COVID-19 — an antiviral pill that can reduce the chances of hospitalization and death by 88%. But the new initiative, called Test to Treat, will not work as easily as Biden made it sound during the State of the Union address last week, when the president described pharmacies as one-stop shops where, “People can get tested ... and if they’re positive, receive antiviral pills...