The United Kingdom has given its approval to the anti-viral pill which has been manufactured by Pfizer for adults only who have mild to moderate infection from the Covid in the wake of the increase in the number of Omicron cases. it can also be administered to those people who are at a higher risk of their illness getting worse. This is Pfizer’s second pill that can be administered easily against the Coronavirus. Britain has acquired more than 2.75 million doses of the treatment so far.
The pill has only been approved to be administered to people who are 18 years old and above and are showing at least one risk factor.
Paxlovid, the anti-viral pill is said to be made with 2 active substances that come as 2 different pills to be taken twice in one day for 5 days. The tablets are a part of a class of drugs called the ‘protease inhibitors’ which are currently being used in the treatment of HIV, Hepatitis C, and some other viruses. The pill works in a way that stops the virus from replicating.
The Omicron has taken over Britain and the situation is getting worse every passing day. The UK is struggling to build its defenses against the deadly virus as it hit a record high of 19 cases and the number of cases is expected to rise more in the upcoming winter season because the Omicron has been known to spread faster than all the other variants.
Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has reported that the pill called Paxlovid, will be most effective if it is taken in the early stages of the COVID-19. The agency recommended the usage of the pill within five days of the Coronavirus. Pfizer has reported that the pill has shown almost 90 percent of efficacy when it comes to the prevention of hospitalization and fatality of higher-risk patients. Data has also suggested that the drug has sustained its effectiveness against the latest variant of Coronavirus known as Omicron as well.
The MHRA is also working with Pfizer, which has been known to make Covid vaccines along with the German company BioNTech to track the pill’s effectiveness against the variant so far. Rival Merck’s pill was also given its approval last month by the United Kingdom to boost the fight against COVID. But that pill could only reduce hospitalizations and deaths in the clinical trial of very high-risk patients by 30 percent.
The pill can be taken by mouth instead of being administered intravenously which makes the use of the pill outside the hospital easy as well. The pill which has around 90 percent of success rate has also been approved in the United States to prevent severe illnesses among highly vulnerable adults.
This will hopefully reassure those who are suffering from the virus and who are highly vulnerable to the deadly disease, this can prove to be a life-saving drug. The world is still fighting against the Coronavirus and the threat is still looming over us.
