Pfizer's Covid pill gets a nod from USFDA, what we know about it

The US drug regulator has given the nod to Pfizer's Covid treatment pill Paxlovid, making it the first oral antiviral drug cleared during the pandemic. The medication, which is recommended for people at a high risk of developing severe Covid-19, could be available to patients as early as this weekend in the United States. Pfizer’s pill was cleared for use in people age 12 and up who weigh at least 40 kilograms.

The U.S. has purchased 10 million courses of Pfizer’s treatment, Paxlovid, in a $5 billion deal in an effort to reach out to the unvaccinated population at risk from the rising Omicron variant. Experts expect the FDA to give the nod for Merck's pill also this week.

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The authorization comes at a crucial turning point in the pandemic, as hospital systems across the U.S. have been battered by a wave of delta infections, and are now bracing for another wave of patients infected with the highly contagious omicron variant. There were over 170,000 new cases of Covid in the US on Tuesday.