COVID: Vulnerable coronavirus patients getting at-home treatment which improves symptoms 'within hours'

More than 32,000 vulnerable COVID patients in England have been treated with 'cutting-edge' antiviral drugs which improve symptoms 'within hours', the NHS has said. The health service has procured nearly five million doses of Pfizer's Paxlovid and other antivirals, such as Molnupiravir, via a deal struck by the government. Paxlovid was found in trials to cut coronavirus hospital admissions and deaths by 88% and has been given to more than 6,000 patients already - 1,400 in the last seven days alone. Molnupiravir, which clinical trials suggest reduces the risk of hospital admission or death by 30%, was approved in November 2021 and has been used as an at-home treatment since December.