Paxlovid, a Pfizer’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pill, is seen manufactured in Ascoli, Italy, in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters on Nov. 16, 2021. Photo: Pfizer/Handout via Reuters

i24 News – Roughly one in three Israelis offered Pfizer’s COVID-19 treatment pill Paxlovid refused to take the drug, according to a report published Tuesday.

Israel began distributing the first COVID-19 treatment pill to at-risk patients on Sunday, and about 1,000 people started taking it, according to Channel 12 News.

However, while Paxlovid was found to be very effective in preventing the virus from becoming severe among patients, some 400 eligible people refused to take it.

Due to limited medical supplies, only patients considered to be at high risk can receive the drug.

Doron Netzer of Israel’s Clalit Health Services told Channel 12 News that some half of those who were offered the pill at his Health Maintenance Organization declined it.

“When we look into it, it turns out most people believe their illness is mild, and so even though they are at high-risk levels, they refuse to get the treatment,” Netzer said.

In December, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Paxlovid, which can be taken at home, after Pfizer clinical trials showed that it was nearly 90 percent effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in patients at high risk of developing severe illness.

The first shipment of the pills landed in Israel on Dec. 30, making the Jewish state one of the first countries to receive the new treatment.

Israel ordered 100,000 doses of Paxlovid overall as its healthcare system rushes to combat the surge of the highly contagious omicron variant.

On Wednesday, Israel registered 43,815 new COVID-19 cases amid the country’s fifth wave.