Canada’s health regulator has approved a pill by Pfizer that treats the effects of COVID-19

Health Canada authorized Paxlovid for adult patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 who are also at high risk of becoming more seriously ill. Health Canada did not authorize it for use on teenagers or on patients who are already hospitalized because of COVID-19.

The agency’s announcement Monday comes amid soaring numbers of infections because of the highly transmissible omicron variant.

Sharma said clinical trials showed treatment with Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 by 89% when the medications were started within three days of the beginning of symptoms, and by 85% when started within five days.



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