Topic: Pfizer Pill

Media reports describe surging demand for COVID-19 tests ahead of Christmas as people seek to gather safely. The FDA grants emergency use authorization for Pfizer's antiviral pill, which is touted as 90% effective. The hosts criticize the "psychological operation" of encouraging healthy people to stand in long lines for tests and mock a Canadian PSA featuring a "vaccinated" Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Bloomberg reports that Pfizer's new COVID-19 pill, Paxlovid, is effective at preventing hospitalization but less successful at neutralizing mild symptoms in breakthrough infections. The pill was previously touted as the "Tamiflu of COVID," but recent data has tempered market expectations. The segment disputes the Bloomberg analysis, suggesting the pill's efficacy is being characterized differently in other reports.