People at greater risk of becoming seriously ill from Covid-19 will likely have more treatment options in January. The need for more options to treat Covid has increased not only due to the spike in cases, but also because only one of the three monoclonal antibody treatments used to treat Covid has proven effective against Omicron, and it’s now in short supply across the country. On Thursday, the federal agency authorized a Merck antiviral, Molnupiravir, that has not been shown to be as effective as Paxlovid against hospitalization from Covid. It’s approved for the treatment of mild to moderate Covid in adults at high risk of severe illness from the virus. Covid patients’ access to the antiviral pills will depend on how efficiently the federal government distributes the pills to states and community health centers, said Schaffner.

Source: The Guardian December 24, 2021 11:09 UTC