Omicron: Brits to receive new ‘game changing’ antiviral drug at home to fight Covid during trial

Vulnerable Brits will get Covid-busting drugs at home from next week under radical plans to slash hospitalisations. The drugs were approved for use in the UK on November 4 and a currently starting trial phase.

5,000 patients will be given the antiviral drug Molnupiravir in a trial by Oxford University.

Studies have shown it cuts the risk of hospitalisation and death by around a third in those with mild symptoms. The drugs have been proven to cut the risk of severe illness by up to 70 per cent.

High-risk adults and the over 50s will be offered the treatments shortly after testing positive for the virus.

The pilot will also ease pressure on the NHS over winter by reducing the need for beds.

Chief investigator Chris Butler, a Professor of Primary Care at Oxford University said: “It is early on in the illness, when people are still being cared for in the community, that treatments for Covid-19 could have their greatest benefit.

“This new trial will test whether exciting, new antiviral treatments that are more specific to Covid-19 help people in the community recover faster and reduce the need for treatment in hospital.”

Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said: “Antivirals will be a vital intervention for years to come, helping to protect those that can’t mount the same antibody response to the vaccines.

“This is really positive news for the future of our response to Covid-19."

It comes after experts warned cases of the Omicron variant could cause 1,000 hospitalisations a day by the end of the year.