UK approves ‘life-saving’ Pfizer antiviral to help at-risk Covid patients

MHRA has approved a new Pfizer antiviral for preventing hospital admission and death in those deemed at risk after a Covid infection (Dan Kitwood/PA)

The UK has become “one of the first in the world” to approve the use of Pfizer’s Covid-19 antiviral after it was found to help prevent the virus from multiplying in at-risk sufferers.

A potentially “life-saving” treatment called Paxlovid has been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for use among adults who could be vulnerable to coronavirus due to age, weight or a prior chronic illness.