US health regulators yesterday approved the use of the first drug against covid - the Pfizer pill, which Americans will be able to take at home to protect themselves from the most severe effects of the virus, the Associated Press reported.

The long-awaited event comes at a time when infections, hospitalizations and deaths in the United States are on the rise, and medics warn that a tsunami of new infections is looming because of the Omicron variant, which could flood hospitals.

The drug will be sold under the trade name "Paxlovid".

"The efficacy is high, the side effects are few and it is taken orally," said US physician Gregory Poland. According to him, it reduces by 90 percent the risk of hospitalization and death in the highest risk group.

The US Food and Drug Administration has authorized Pfizer for adults and children over the age of 12 with a positive coronavirus test and early symptoms that are at risk of being admitted to hospital.

/BTA

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