Somelong COVIDpatients who took an extended course ofPaxlovidsaw temporary or lasting improvement, according to a small new case series published in the journalCommunications Medicine.

A previous study suggested that people who take the five-day course of Paxlovid during their infection are25% less likely to develop long COVID.This new paper raises another question: Could Paxlovid benefit long COVID patients months after their initial infection?

The new research is at odds with a study published last summer inJAMA Internal Medicine, which found that people withlong COVIDlikely won’t see any benefit from the drug.

Researchers don’t know why some people whose stories were featured in the new case series experienced better results. And experts cautioned that we can’t say for certain that Paxlovid drove the improvement.

“There is no certain scientific support that Paxlovid has a material impact on making people better faster when they are suffering from long COVID,” saidWilliam Schaffner, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

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What the Case Series Found

The new report included stories from 13 long COVID patients who were initially infected at different points during the pandemic (and with different strains of the virus).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines long COVID as a chronic condition that happens after acute infection and is present for at least three months.

The researchers looked at how the participants, who varied in age and health status, fared after taking an extended course of Paxlovid, and the results were mixed.

Some participants didn’t see any improvement, others saw temporary improvement, and some saw lasting improvement. The study is limited in that the authors don’t know what caused the improvement some patients experienced.

“This is all observational data, so that means we don’t know for sure that it was the extended course of Paxlovid [that helped certain people], and we don’t know what would have happened if they hadn’t tried this,” saidAlison Cohen, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, and an author of the new report.

One theory is that Paxlovid may kill lingering remnants of the virus in some people, said Dr. Schaffner. In general, though, experts said it’s impossible to guess why there are discrepancies within these results and with previous data.

How Do You Know if You Have Long COVID?

Why More Research Is Needed

Either way, the research highlights the need for treatment options for long COVID patients. Some estimates suggest more than 76 million people around the world have long COVID, and the new paper states that more than 1% of all Americans have “severe activity limitations” due to long COVID.

The condition can be debilitating for people who led otherwise healthy lives before the pandemic, and more research into potential treatments is needed to help this population, Cohen said.

What Is Long COVID?

Future Research for Treating Long COVID

The good news is that the case study provides more information for long COVID researchers to work with—and highlights the fact that Paxlovid shouldn’t be ruled out as a potential therapy.

Though we don’t yet have a specific treatment for long COVID, Dr. Shaffner said that experts at long COVID clinics, which exist at universities and hospitals across the country, can help people try different therapies. These can help treat symptoms they’re experiencing—likebrain fog, loss of physical strength, and aches and pains—and may help them get back to normal.

If you’re experiencing symptoms three months after an initial COVID infection, you should consider reaching out, Dr. Schaffner added.

How Long Do COVID-19 Headaches Last?

What This Means For YouA new case series that included 13 people looked at whether Paxlovid may help long COVID patients. Some participants saw no improvement, others saw temporary improvement, and others saw lasting improvement. But experts don’t know why the drug may have helped some people and not others.

What This Means For You

A new case series that included 13 people looked at whether Paxlovid may help long COVID patients. Some participants saw no improvement, others saw temporary improvement, and others saw lasting improvement. But experts don’t know why the drug may have helped some people and not others.

4 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cohen AK, Jaudon TW, Schurman EM, et al.Impact of extended-course oral nirmatrelvir/ritonavir in established long COVID: a case series.Commun Med (Lond). 2025;4(1):261. doi:10.1038/s43856-024-00668-8Xie Y, Choi T, Al-Aly Z.Association of treatment with nirmatrelvir and the risk of post–covid-19 condition.JAMA Intern Med. 2023;183(6):554. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.0743Geng LN, Bonilla H, Hedlin H, et al.Nirmatrelvir-ritonavir and symptoms in adults with postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection: the STOP-PASC randomized clinical trial.JAMA Intern Med. 2024;184(9):1024. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.2007Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Long COVID Basics.

4 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cohen AK, Jaudon TW, Schurman EM, et al.Impact of extended-course oral nirmatrelvir/ritonavir in established long COVID: a case series.Commun Med (Lond). 2025;4(1):261. doi:10.1038/s43856-024-00668-8Xie Y, Choi T, Al-Aly Z.Association of treatment with nirmatrelvir and the risk of post–covid-19 condition.JAMA Intern Med. 2023;183(6):554. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.0743Geng LN, Bonilla H, Hedlin H, et al.Nirmatrelvir-ritonavir and symptoms in adults with postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection: the STOP-PASC randomized clinical trial.JAMA Intern Med. 2024;184(9):1024. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.2007Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Long COVID Basics.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Cohen AK, Jaudon TW, Schurman EM, et al.Impact of extended-course oral nirmatrelvir/ritonavir in established long COVID: a case series.Commun Med (Lond). 2025;4(1):261. doi:10.1038/s43856-024-00668-8Xie Y, Choi T, Al-Aly Z.Association of treatment with nirmatrelvir and the risk of post–covid-19 condition.JAMA Intern Med. 2023;183(6):554. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.0743Geng LN, Bonilla H, Hedlin H, et al.Nirmatrelvir-ritonavir and symptoms in adults with postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection: the STOP-PASC randomized clinical trial.JAMA Intern Med. 2024;184(9):1024. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.2007Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Long COVID Basics.

Cohen AK, Jaudon TW, Schurman EM, et al.Impact of extended-course oral nirmatrelvir/ritonavir in established long COVID: a case series.Commun Med (Lond). 2025;4(1):261. doi:10.1038/s43856-024-00668-8

Xie Y, Choi T, Al-Aly Z.Association of treatment with nirmatrelvir and the risk of post–covid-19 condition.JAMA Intern Med. 2023;183(6):554. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.0743

Geng LN, Bonilla H, Hedlin H, et al.Nirmatrelvir-ritonavir and symptoms in adults with postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection: the STOP-PASC randomized clinical trial.JAMA Intern Med. 2024;184(9):1024. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.2007

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Long COVID Basics.

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