--- title: Paxlovid Is Most Effective in People 65 and Up, Study Finds description: An Israeli study published Aug. 24 provides important data on who could benefit most from the antiviral treatment Paxlovid. canonical: https://time.com/6208336/paxlovid-effective-older-adults/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-08-24T23:48:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T14:39:31.029Z article:section: Health og:title: Paxlovid Is Far More Effective in Seniors Than in People Under 65, Study Finds og:description: An Israeli study published Aug. 24 provides important data on who could benefit most from the antiviral treatment og:url: https://time.com/6208336/paxlovid-effective-older-adults/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ad4b37e1bced6da/698a34ddb21a9c1f4b506582/GettyImages-1407371830.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: COVID-19-treatment-Paxlovid og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Paxlovid Is Far More Effective in Seniors Than in People Under 65, Study Finds twitter:description: An Israeli study published Aug. 24 provides important data on who could benefit most from the antiviral treatment twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ad4b37e1bced6da/698a34ddb21a9c1f4b506582/GettyImages-1407371830.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Paxlovid Is Far More Effective in Seniors Than in People Under 65, Study Finds > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=ccb73d1f-ec7a-4490-9435-6d599b61f3a1&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Aug 24, 2022 11:48 PM UTC  A dose of Paxlovid pills A dose of Paxlovid pills Joe Raedle—Getty Images  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Aug 24, 2022 11:48 PM UTC Taking the antiviral treatment [Paxlovid](https://time.com/6198667/paxlovid-who-should-take-covid-19/) can reduce a person’s chances of getting seriously ill from COVID-19\. But while seniors tend to get impressive protection from the pills, younger people derive little benefit, finds new research. In a [study](http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2204919) published Aug. 24 in the _New England Journal of Medicine_, researchers in Israel provide valuable real-world data on how effective the pills are against Omicron. The researchers studied data from 109,000 patients at a large health care organization—nearly all of whom had been vaccinated, had been previously infected, or both—and tracked their hospitalization and death rates by age. Nearly 4,000 people in the study, which was conducted from January to March 2022, took Paxlovid. People who were 65 or older had a 73% lower chance of being hospitalized for COVID-19 and about a 79% lower chance of dying of the disease, compared to people in the same age group who did not take Paxlovid. But people ages 40 to 64 experienced no statistically significant drop in the risk of hospitalization or death. Based on the findings, the authors conclude that “no evidence of benefit was found in younger adults.” To qualify for Paxlovid, patients must be at elevated risk of developing serious illness from COVID-19\. Risk factors include older age, as well as conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and a history of heart and kidney failure. But the Israeli data suggest that age may be an even more important consideration for evaluating who should take it. While the benefits are clear for seniors, the findings throw into question whether taking the drug is worth it for people under 65\. It comes with potential side effects, including diarrhea, muscle aches, an increase in blood pressure, and an aftertaste so bad that it can temporarily affect some people’s ability to eat. Paxlovid also interacts with common medications, such as cholesterol-lowering statins, so some doctors advise patients to stop or reduce those medications during the five-day Paxlovid course. And there are increasing reports that people taking Paxlovid are likely to experience a [rebound infection](https://time.com/6181388/paxlovid-rebound-what-to-know/), or having the virus re-emerge after they stop taking the pills. One caveat of the study is that the researchers did not break down data on younger people with cancer and other severe immunocompromising conditions, who may be more likely than other young people to benefit from Paxlovid—perhaps to a greater extent than the data showed. As more people take the medications, doctors will have a better understanding of who will benefit most, and for whom the benefits outweigh the risks. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6208336/paxlovid-effective-older-adults/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6208336/paxlovid-effective-older-adults/"},"headline":"Paxlovid Is Far More Effective in Seniors Than in People Under 65, Study Finds","datePublished":"2022-08-24T23:48:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T14:39:31.029Z","description":"An Israeli study published Aug. 24 provides important data on who could benefit most from the antiviral treatment.","url":"https://time.com/6208336/paxlovid-effective-older-adults/","keywords":["COVID-19","healthscienceclimate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ad4b37e1bced6da/698a34ddb21a9c1f4b506582/GettyImages-1407371830.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ad4b37e1bced6da/698a34ddb21a9c1f4b506582/GettyImages-1407371830.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"COVID-19-treatment-Paxlovid","caption":"COVID-19-treatment-Paxlovid","creditText":"Joe Raedle—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/covid-19/","name":"COVID-19"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6208336/paxlovid-effective-older-adults/","name":"Paxlovid Is Far More Effective in Seniors Than in People Under 65, Study Finds"}}]}] ```