Access Granted: Unlocking the Benefits of COVID-19 Antiviral Therapies
THERE IS NO CE WITH THIS ACTIVITY Content Release Date: April 22, 2026 Expiration Date: May 19, 2027 Activity Type: Knowledge-based Activity Fee: Free
Activity Overview
COVID-19 is an ongoing public health challenge, and the disease continues to spread to patients every day. Numerous factors can influence the risk of adverse outcomes from COVID-19 including vaccination status, the number and type of medical conditions, immunosuppression, and age, along with sociodemographic factors and nonpharmaceutical interventions. For high-risk patients with non-severe COVID-19, antiviral medications can reduce progression to severe COVID-19 and can reduce the risk of hospitalization and death. Despite guideline recommended use of these medications and demonstrated effectiveness, the use of COVID-19 antiviral medications is low.
Pharmacists are well positioned to help address the ongoing risks and disease burden associated with COVID-19 by recognizing patients at elevated risk who may benefit from treatment, assessing emerging clinical data that support antiviral use, and facilitating access to these therapies. This activity will provide an overview of the current status of COVID-19 across the United States and assess the role of antiviral treatments in improving patient outcomes.
More in this Series:
Engaging the Experts Podcast: From Evidence to Action: Using Antivirals to Treat High-Risk Patients With COVID-19 COMING IN MAY
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education with Commendation.
This activity was planned to meet the educational needs of pharmacists who practice in hospitals and health systems who care for or are interested in the care of patients with COVID-19 including inpatient pharmacists, clinical pharmacists, and infectious disease pharmacists.
Katherine Yang, PharmD, MPH, FCSHP Health Sciences Clinical Professor University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Pharmacy Infectious Diseases, Clinical Pharmacist UCSF Medical Center San Francisco, California
Katherine Yang, PharmD, MPH, FCSHP is a Health Sciences Clinical Professor of Pharmacy at the UCSF School of Pharmacy and an infectious diseases clinical pharmacist at the UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco, California. Dr. Yang specializes in the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic optimization of antibiotic dosing for the treatment of multi-drug resistant gram-negative infections. Since the start of the pandemic, Dr. Yang has been heavily involved in the management of COVID-19 therapeutics.
Sarah Parsons, PharmD, BCPPS, FPPA Clinical Pharmacy Specialist; Pediatric Infectious Diseases Antimicrobial Stewardship Co-Lead Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters Norfolk, Virginia
Sarah Parsons, PharmD, BCPPS, FPPA is a clinical pharmacy specialist in pediatric infectious diseases and the co-director of the antimicrobial stewardship program at the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters. Dr. Parsons received her Doctor of Pharmacy Degree from Virginia Commonwealth School of Pharmacy. She completed a PGY1 with pediatric focus at HCA Health system in Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Parsons specializes in the treatment of multi-drug resistant gram negative infections, nontuberculous mycobacterium in cystic fibrosis, COVID/MIS-C, and vaccine preventable diseases in children. She is an active member of many pharmacy, pediatric, and infectious diseases professional organizations, including ASHP, the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists, the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, and is a 2025 fellow of the Pediatric Pharmacy Association.
Michael Ganio, PharmD, MS, BCSCP, FASHP Senior Director, Pharmacy Practice and Quality ASHP Bethesda, Maryland
Michael Ganio, PharmD, MS, BCSCP, FASHP joined the staff at ASHP as Director of Pharmacy Practice and Quality in January of 2018. As a member of the Center on Medication Safety and Quality team, his responsibilities span the practice of pharmacy and include drug shortages, pharmaceutical quality, sterile and non-sterile drug compounding practices, hazardous drug handling, and the ASHP Standardize 4 Safety initiative. Dr. Ganio earned his Pharm.D. from the Rutgers University Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy and his Master’s degree in Health-System Pharmacy Administration from The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy. He completed a PGY1 Pharmacy Practice residency at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Dr. Ganio is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS) and a Board Certified Sterile Compounding Pharmacist (BCSCP).
In accordance with our accreditor’s Standards of Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, ASHP requires that all individuals in control of content disclose all financial relationships with ineligible companies. An individual has a relevant financial relationship if they have had a financial relationship with an ineligible company in any dollar amount in the past 24 months and the educational content that the individual controls is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company.
An ineligible company is any entity producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients. The presence or absence of relevant financial relationships will be disclosed to the activity audience.
No one in control of the content of this activity has a relevant financial (RFR) with an ineligible company.
As defined by the Standards of Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education definition of ineligible company. All relevant financial relationships have been mitigated prior to the CE activity.
Claim CE Within 60 Days
To receive CE credit, complete the steps below within 60 days of completing the activity.
Listen to the audio of the podcast and answer all assessment questions.
Complete the evaluation to claim credit.
Verify credits were successfully transferred to CPE Monitor before the ACPE 60-day deadline by checking your NABP eProfile account.
Important Note – ACPE 60 Day Deadline Per ACPE requirements, CPE credit must be claimed within 60 days of being earned – no exceptions! To verify that you have completed the required steps and to ensure your credits have been reported to CPE Monitor, we encourage you to check your NABP eProfile account to validate your credits were transferred successfully before the ACPE 60-day deadline. After the 60 day deadline, ASHP will no longer be able to award credit for this activity.
Provided by ASHP.
Supported by Gilead who provided funding. Gilead has had no input into the content of the materials used at this meeting/conference.
