FDA authorizes two pills to fight COVID-19

As the country fights a wave of new infections, the Food and Drug Administration authorized two medications this week that could ward off the virus' worst effects.

Pfizer's Paxlovid pill reduces the chance of hospitalization and death by 90 percent in high-risk patients. Supplies are limited, but the medication is now approved for adults and children ages 12 and older with a positive COVID-19 test and early symptoms.

“The efficacy is high, the side effects are low and it’s oral. It checks all the boxes,” said Dr. Gregory Poland of the Mayo Clinic to the Associated Press.

And Merck's pill, likely to become the second-choice treatment, is less effective at combating severe illness. Its drug label will also warn of serious safety issues, including potential birth defects.

The approval comes just in time. Researchers have found that two of the three monoclonal antibody treatments doctors depend on to treat COVID patients are ineffective against Omicron.