Antiviral medicines for COVID-19 infection

Most people who have COVID-19 will experience a mild illness and can safely manage their own symptoms and recovery at home. 

Antivirals are ONLY used to treat people who are at risk of getting very sick with COVID-19.

Antiviral medicines are best used in the first few days of COVID-19 infection.

You can get COVID-19 antiviral medicines if ALL of these apply

1. You test positive for COVID-19 and have symptoms, or you're a household contact of someone with COVID-19 and have symptoms, and
2. You became sick within the last 5 days, and
3. You are eligible for the medicine.

Read more about eligibility for COVID-19 antiviral medicines(external link). Please note: Even if you are eligible, these medicines may not be suitable for you.

If you don't know if you're eligible to get antiviral medicines, talk to your GP, nurse, hauora provider or pharmacist about COVID-19 antiviral medicines. They will advise you.

There are 2 ways to get antivirals:

• Ask your doctor or nurse practitioner for a prescription.
• Ask your pharmacist. Many pharmacies can give you antiviral medicines without a prescription, after a health check by phone. Click on this link to the Healthpoint website(external link) and put in your address to find a pharmacy offering COVID-19 antiviral medicines near you.

You may not need a prescription as some pharmacies can give free COVID-19 antiviral medicines without a prescription to people who are eligible. Check which pharmacies give COVID-19 antiviral medicines on the Healthpoint website(external link), or call your local pharmacy. If your local pharmacy doesn't provide these medicines, they can tell you the nearest pharmacy that does.

Pharmacy health checks

The pharmacy will do a health check (which can be done over the phone) to see if you are eligible, and to see if the free antiviral is right for you. They need the following information to decide if COVID-19 antiviral medicines are safe for you to take:

• Your current health status.
• Your health history.
• Any other medicines or treatments you are or have been taking, including rongoā rākau (plant remedies) and herbal medicines.
• Whether you might be pregnant.

If you are eligible, the pharmacist will tell you what you need to know about taking antiviral medicines safely.

You don't need to leave home to get antivirals

If you have COVID-19, it's recommended you isolate for at least 5 days. Call the pharmacy – don't visit in person. Someone can pick up your medicine for you, or the pharmacy can have it delivered for free, even if you are rural or live in a remote area.

If you're at risk of serious illness but don't have COVID-19 symptoms, you may be able to get a prescription from your doctor before you get COVID-19. This means the pharmacist will have the prescription ready to use if you become unwell.

Keep rapid antigen test (RAT) kits on hand. If you are at risk of getting very sick with COVID-19, make sure you have RAT kits at home, so you can test yourself as soon as you start to feel sick.

If you test positive, you can then arrange to have the medicine delivered by friends or whānau. Talk to your doctor to see if getting a prescription before you become unwell is right for you. Your pharmacist will still need to check your current health and health history to make sure the medicine is suitable.

Yes, antivirals don't replace the need to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Vaccination is the best way to help prevent you from becoming very unwell from COVID infection and its potentially serious complications. You should still get vaccinated if you have had COVID-19 and taken an antiviral medicine, because you can get infected again. You can talk to your doctor, nurse, pharmacist or some hauora providers about the best timing for your vaccination.