More Antiviral Coronavirus Treatment Shipped To PA Hospitals

PENNSYLVANIA — The fourth shipment of an antiviral drug used to treat coronavirus patients has arrived at hospitals around Pennsylvania.

A total of 4,400 doses of the "investigational" medicine, remdesivir, were sent to 73 hospitals statewide by federal authorities.

“The department is working to give our hospitals every opportunity to treat patients with COVID-19,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said in a statement.

Hospitals that will receive the drug include Thomas Jefferson University, Abington Memorial, Lancaster General, Einstein Montgomery, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Geisinger Medical Center, Doylestown Hospital, several UPMC branches, and more. The full list of the 73 hospitals receiving this round of shipments of the drug can be viewed here.

Pennsylvania, which now has nearly 74,000 cases of coronavirus, is among a handful of states to receive the medication from the federal government. The federal government delivered the first shipment of 1,200 doses of remdesivir to Pennsylvania in mid-May, with another two shipments sent a week later.

Levine noted that the drug is still experimental.

"It is important to note that there is limited information on the safety and effectiveness of using remdesivir to treat people in the hospital with COVID-19," Levine said. "However, it was shown in a clinical trial to shorten the recovery time in some people, which is why the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the emergency use of the medication for treatment."

There are 5,817 confirmed deaths from coronavirus in Pennsylvania as of Friday.

This article originally appeared on the Montgomeryville-Lansdale Patch