How to Take PAXLOVID
If you’re prescribed PAXLOVID, it’s important to take it correctly. Review these instructions so you can take PAXLOVID with confidence.
What’s in the box
Each pack contains several blister cards with your morning and evening doses of PAXLOVID. Each dose contains 2 types of medicine: nirmatrelvir tablets (pink) and a ritonavir tablet (white to off-white).
There are 2 dose pack options available for PAXLOVID: the standard dose pack and a reduced dose pack. Your healthcare professional may prescribe the reduced dose to you if you have kidney disease. Talk to your healthcare professional to make sure you have the right dose pack.
Take a closer look at PAXLOVID packaging
Learn about what’s inside and on the box
Standard Dose Pack
The box contains 10 single-dose blister cards, with each blister card holding 1 dose.
Reduced Dose Pack
How to take PAXLOVID
Take your first dose of PAXLOVID in the morning or evening (depending on when you pick up your prescription), or at the time your healthcare professional recommends.
- Do not remove your PAXLOVID tablets from the blister card before you are ready to take your dose
- All tablets in a dose should be taken at once or one right after the other
- Swallow tablets whole. Do not break, chew, or crush the tablets
- PAXLOVID can be taken with or without food
Speak with your healthcare professional if you have any questions or experience any side effects from taking PAXLOVID.
If you are taking a ritonavir- or cobicistat-containing medicine to treat hepatitis C or HIV-1 infection, you should continue to take your medicine as prescribed by your healthcare professional.
Repeat at the same time each morning and evening until you have taken all the tablets.
- Take PAXLOVID at the same time each morning and evening
- Don’t stop taking PAXLOVID without talking to your healthcare professional, even if you feel better
If you miss a dose:
- By less than 8 hours, take it
- By more than 8 hours, skip it and resume your next scheduled dose
- Don’t take more than 1 dose at a time
- Make sure you take all your doses
Call your healthcare professional if:
- A side effect bothers you
- You take more than 1 dose at a time
- You don’t feel better, or you feel worse after 5 days
- You have any questions
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