New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in West Palm Beach will distribute free doses of the effective but expensive COVID-fighting drug Paxlovid on Sunday in a bid to make sure Black and poor residents have access to the drug.
Paxlovid costs $1,390 for a five-day course — well beyond the means of those without health insurance. But through a partnership with the state Department of Health and the Florida East Coast Baptist Association, New Bethel and other Black churches in Florida will be distributing the drug this Sunday and on following Sundays until there are no more doses to hand out.
The New Bethel distribution will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Those looking to pick up the medicine will be asked for a form of identification and contact information so the number of doses handed out can be tracked.
Dr. Dwight Reynolds, an emergency medicine physician who has worked with the state and the Florida East Coast Baptist Association to the help get Paxlovid distributed, said more than 120,000 doses have been handed out over the past six and a half to seven months.