New Pill Could Reduce Risk of Hospitalization, Death From COVID-19, But Experts Say Vaccines Remain Best Tool

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A perchance game-changing cause successful the combat against COVID-19.

Pharmaceutical institution Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said they’ve developed a cause that reduces the hazard of hospitalization oregon decease for patients with mild oregon mean cases of COVID.

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If cleared by national regulators, it would beryllium the archetypal pill to dainty COVID-19.

Doctors said this COVID-19 pill volition hopefully let them to dainty galore much COVID patients astatine location faster, and easiness the load connected hospitals.

But they besides privation to punctual radical this caller breakthrough should not minimize the propulsion to get vaccinated.

“This is breathtaking and tin beryllium a truly important portion of our toolbox,” Dr. Namandje N. Bumpus, manager of the Department of Pharmacology astatine the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said.

Pharmaceutical institution Merck and spouse Ridgeback Biotherapeutics precocious announced promising results with its experimental COVID-19 anti-viral drug, Molnupiravir.

“It fundamentally works by preventing replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” Bumpus said.

The cause institution looked astatine 775 adults with mild to mean COVID-19, astatine precocious hazard for terrible disease. The patients who received the antiviral pill took it wrong 5 days of symptoms.

“They needed to halt the survey and spell guardant and contiguous the data, due to the fact that it was truthful affirmative and truthful clear-cut, it seems,” Bumpus said.

Their survey shows the pill has chopped the hazard of hospitalization oregon decease from COVID-19 successful at-risk patients by 50%.

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“I deliberation erstwhile we’re seeing these things travel out, there’s a small spot of reasoning now, Well I don’t request to get vaccinated now, if there’s a treatment,” Bumpus said.

Still, doctors proceed to accent vaccines stay the fig 1 instrumentality successful the combat against COVID-19.

“We’re trying to forestall getting COVID successful the archetypal place,” Bumpus said.

This comes arsenic Maryland reported implicit 1,000 caller COVID-19 cases and 4 deaths Sunday.

The statewide positivity complaint is somewhat up, astatine 4.1 percent.

“There’s radical getting their archetypal dose today,” said Dr. Kathleen Page, corruption illness doc and module astatine the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “So that’s fantastic.”

In Baltimore, COVID-19 ambassadors with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine person been hard astatine enactment targeting the Latino community.

“I deliberation it’s important to beryllium wherever the assemblage is, to conscionable radical wherever they are,” Page said.

So far, implicit 107,000 Marylanders person received booster shots, and there’s been a crisp emergence successful the regular archetypal and 2nd doses administered implicit the past 2 days.

Merck officials said the institution plans to question exigency authorization from the FDA arsenic soon arsenic imaginable for its COVID-19 attraction pill.

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They volition besides question authorization from regulators astir the world.