Judging by a website used to track the distribution and uptake of the drug, however, not many people are taking advantage of the offer. Of the 50 or so available sites listed in Manhattan, about half showed that their stocks are apparently untouched — even as case rates in the borough have risen some 400 percent since March 1.

There’s an obvious reason for that lack of interest, says epidemiologist Saad Omer, director of the Yale Institute for Global Health: Not enough people know that the program exists. “We need to have some meat-and-potatoes public-health information,” he says. “Any successful test-to-treat program is dependent on accurate, complete, timely information.”

It will also help if access to the program is expanded. For now, the emergency-use application only allows the drug to be prescribed to those with an increased risk of severe COVID, because that’s who took part in the trial. Other trials are currently underway to see if Paxlovid is safe and effective for children and for patients at a standard risk of severe symptoms — that is to say, the rest of the public. Pfizer is also testing Paxlovid on people who’ve potentially been exposed to COVID but haven’t yet tested positive. The latter study could yield results within the next few months, says Pfizer spokesman Kit Longley, while the other two “could have results by the end of the year.”