The claim
Allegedly, the drug Paxlovid causes side effects that are similar to COVID-19 disease and causes a large number of false-positive tests.
Our conclusion
The medicine is only used after a positive test; there is only an overlap in the loss of taste.
It is currently often claimed online that the drug Paxlovid can, in a staged manner, lead to a corona infection. Allegedly, the side effects of the drug are deceptively similar to the symptoms of SARS-CoV-2, which would lead to “herd runs to testing stations”, a large number of false positive tests and a staged new Covid wave in the autumn of this year. What is true about this claim?

Drug causes Covid symptoms to appear?
on Telegram and Instagram that provides information about the drug Paxlovid and its side effects, which are said to be very similar to the symptoms of a coronavirus infection. “The more people take this drug, the more symptoms there will be, which in turn will trigger herd runs to testing stations, whereupon a number of false results will cause a new wave,” it says online.
According to the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM ), the drug has been conditionally approved in the EU since the end of January 2022, but it can only be prescribed by a doctor.
From the 25th second onwards, the video states that taste disorders, headaches and gastrointestinal problems are common side effects of Paxlovid and are therefore close to the typical Covid 19 symptoms. Judging from the package insert
, the BfArM informs “ Correctiv ” that even if there is a certain overlap in the side effect profile with Covid symptoms, the most common symptoms of the virus do not represent side effects of the medication: “However, the most common symptoms of a corona disease are (cough, fever and runny nose ) no known side effects of Paxlovid.”
The director of the Clinic for Intensive Care Medicine at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Stephan Kluge, writes that the taste disorders are the only overlap between the Covid symptoms and the side effect profile of Paxlovid. For this reason, symptoms and side effects are fundamentally not similar.
Use of the medication
Paxlovid has been prescribed by doctors since the beginning of 2022 to treat the coronavirus itself. Adult patients who are at increased risk of severe disease and do not require additional oxygen can take the medication. As an antiviral drug, Paxlovid is intended to stop “the multiplication of the virus in the cells and thus also the multiplication of the virus in the body,” according to the package insert .
Paxlovid does not lead to increased case numbers or false positives
Due to its intended use, the medicine is only prescribed if a person has already been diagnosed with the coronavirus. BfArM website also states that the prescription of Paxlovid requires positive corona evidence. A rapid test is sufficient initially, but in this case doctors must also order a PCR test. Beate Grüner, head of the clinical infectiology section at Ulm University Hospital, also confirms to “Correctiv” that a test result must be available.
The claim in the video that the more people took Paxlovid, the more symptoms there would be and that there would be a large number of false positives is therefore false.
Stefan Kluge also confirms that the medicine is not used as a preventive measure: “The medication is given to patients who have been symptomatic for a short time and are not yet seriously ill, but who have risk factors for a severe course.” The therapy therefore only begins in the first five days after confirmed infection.
In statistics, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) not multiple times if the infection is confirmed by a PCR test . Even if a person were to be tested again while taking Paxlovid, this would not count as a new case in the statistics. Therefore, the statement from the video that the number of cases increases as a result of taking Paxlovid cannot be confirmed.
Medicines do not affect test results!
If you believe the statements in the video, taking it with the subsequent side effects and a test at a Covid testing station would lead to a positive test, since a person supposedly feels the same symptoms as if they were carrying the virus. But that is not the case, as neither an antigen nor a PCR test has any effect on the symptoms of the person being tested, as the expert Kluge and the BfArM confirm. Antigen tests react to proteins contained in the coronavirus. PCR tests, on the other hand, react to the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2. This means that both tests are independent of the person's symptoms and can detect an infection even if someone is symptom-free.
Conclusion
The assumptions in the video are mostly wrong. The symptoms of a corona infection and the side effects of Paxlovid differ - the only overlap is the loss of taste. Likewise, the prescription of Paxlovid does not affect the number of cases because the drug is not used preventatively, but only if a positive test result is available. Taking the medication and any side effects have no influence on the test result.
Author: Nick L.
Article image: Instagram
Source:
Corrective
Also interesting: In an interview with a relevant broadcaster, Sucharit Bhakdi claims that mRNA vaccines destroy the vascular walls of vaccinated people and also their unborn children.
However, there is no evidence to support the claim. – mRNA vaccines do not destroy the vascular walls of unborn babies!
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

