The US Food and Drug Administration on December 22, 2021, approved the use of Pfizer’s Paxlovid pill for emergency use for treating mild-to-moderate disease in Covid-19 patients aged 12 or older. Pfizer’s clinical data shows the drug is 90 per cent effective in preventing hospitalisations and deaths in patients at high risk of severe illness. Paxlovid is the first at-home oral drug that has been approved to treat Covid-19.