ask your doctor for, paxlovid would be that drug. reporter: it reduces the risk of covid hospitalization and death by 89% in high-risk adult patients, and is already authorized for people 12 and hov who are considered high risk, often with underlying conditions like obesity, hypertens, diabetes and asthma. but it must be taken within five days of symptoms, often igniting a race to find a pharmacy that actually has it in stock. as you can see, the coff is still working its way out. reporter: still there. it s a scramble gabe rice knows all too well have you noticed its impact? yeah, after a couple of days i definitely was feeling better, feel less fatigued, coughing less, less congested. reporter: another key tool in a return to normalcy: the antiviral drug remdesivir which the f.d.a. just approved to treat children as young as 28 days old with covid, at a time when more than half americans, including three out of four