Live updates: follow the latest news on Covid-19 variant Omicron
Pills that can stop Covid-19 replicating in the body, subsequently preventing severe illness, could be widely available soon.
On Tuesday, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the emergency use of Merck’s Covid-19 antiviral drug molnupiravir, with a panel assessing the drug’s trial results and voting 13 to 10 in favour of authorising its use.
University College London
There were some concerns the drug could pose a risk to pregnant women and children under the age of 18, and side effects of the pill will be closely monitored. But Tuesday’s vote represents an assessment that the benefits outweigh these risks, with the panel recommending the drug’s use for high-risk adults.
The UK approved molnupiravir on November 4, becoming the first country to do so. Australia, South Korea, Japan, Switzerland and France have joined a growing number of countries to order the drug.
But the latest data disappointed advocates of the pill.
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Indian students apply the finishing touches to paintings created to raise awareness of the variant in Mumbai. Reuters -
International travellers wearing personal protective equipment arrive at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport as Australia records its first cases of the Omicron variant. AFP -
A greeting at the international terminal of Sydney Airport, as countries respond to the new variant. Reuters -
A sign asking people to wear face coverings in a building in Manhattan as the newly discovered Omicron variant appears in countries around the world. AFP -
Tourists wave as the ‘Europa’ passenger liner arrives in South African waters off Cape Town as the new coronavirus variant Omicron spreads in other countries. Reuters -
Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. Dutch health authorities said they have found another case of the Omicron Covid-19 variant among passengers arriving from South Africa, bringing the country’s total to 14. AFP -
Pupils wear face masks in Beijing. Despite the global worry, scientists say it remains unclear whether the Omicron variant is more dangerous than other strains of the virus. AP -
People wearing face masks in Manhattan. New York's governor has declared a state of emergency due to the risk of a surge of Covid-19 cases as winter sets in. AFP -
British Health Secretary Sajid Javid meets a member of staff at a vaccine centre in Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, London. Getty Images -
A sign points the way to a Covid-19 test centre at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. AFP -
Narita International Airport in Japan is quiet after travel was restricted to prevent the spread of Omicron. Reuters -
A PCR test at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. AFP -
Soekarno Hatta International airport. Indonesia has banned the arrival of travellers who have recently been in eight southern African countries. Reuters -
Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok after Thailand banned entry from eight southern African countries due to the Omicron variant. Reuters -
Travellers wear personal protective equipment outside the international terminal at Sydney Airport, Australia. Reuters -
Passengers wearing protective gear at Incheon International Airport in South Korea, where health authorities have imposed an entry ban on foreign arrivals from eight African countries, including South Africa. EPA -
Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. The Israeli government approved a 14-day ban on foreign arrivals over concerns about Omicron. EPA -
Travellers queuing in the hope of boarding an overbooked Lufthansa flight at Cape Town International Airport. Antonie Robertson / The National -
Covid-stricken Czech President Milos Zeman sits in a plastic cage as he appoints Petr Fiala as Prime Minister, near Prague. AFP -
Tourists checking in at Cape Town International Airport in South Africa. Antonie Robertson / The National -
Several airlines have stopped flying out of South Africa amid the spread of the new variant, causing disruption at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. Reuters -
Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Two cases of the recently discovered Omicron variant were detected in New South Wales. EPA -
Passengers, many not wearing face coverings, on the London Underground. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said mandatory mask-wearing would return to shops and public transport in England but there are concerns over how the rule will be enforced. AFP -
A stroll, with face masks, in Biarritz, south-western France. French Health Minister Olivier Veran said France had no confirmed cases of the Omicron variant and was not changing its strategy of increasing vaccinations and booster shots. AP -
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty during a press conference on the variant in London. Reuters
In October, Merck’s data suggested the drug reduced the risk of hospital admission and death by about 50 per cent when patients took the pill within five days of symptoms appearing.
Dr Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to US President Joe Biden, said at the time that the drug could be a “game changer”, but that pills could not be a substitute for a mass vaccination campaign.
The most recent review of the drug’s effectiveness found it reduced hospital admissions and patient deaths by 30 per cent.
The drug, along with Pfizer’s Paxlovid pill, works by inhibiting an enzyme that allows the reproduction of the virus in the body.
This “mechanism of action” has given rise to the hope that the Pfizer and Merck pills will work for all variants.
Paxlovid is now under review by the FDA and Pfizer has already signed a deal with the US government to provide enough doses for 10 million people, at a cost of $5.29 billion.
Francois Balloux, director of the University College London Genetics Institute, said the way Covid pills work could actually make them more effective against variants with a high number of mutations, such as the Omicron strain.
“If anything, the Omicron variant might be more susceptible than previous Sars-CoV-2 lineages to molnupiravir given the large number of mutations it already carries in its spike protein. As such, Omicron may be more easily sent into 'mutational meltdown'," he said.
Pfizer’s early trials showed the drug was effective against Covid-19, reducing the risk of hospital admission and death by 89 per cent, based on trial results of Paxlovid in November.
Company directors at Pfizer and Merck say the pills will work on new variants, although Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla said that although he was “very confident” Paxlovid would work on new variants, his company was looking at a back-up plan.
“We are working on other drugs for the eventual case that maybe a resistance is developed [by the virus],” he told CNBC.
Dr Nicholas Kartsonis, Merck's senior vice president for clinical research of infectious diseases and vaccines, told the FDA panel that the company was “feverishly working to collect samples” of Omicron for testing.
“If Omicron turns out to have substantial immune evasiveness, the pills will add a significant layer of defence. We should get these small molecules into mass production, especially Paxlovid, with its takedown of upstream Mpro, and much higher efficacy than molnupiravir [to date],” Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at the Scripps Institute, said on Twitter on Monday.
Pfizer has said it would allow generic manufacturers to supply its pill to 95 low and middle-income countries through licensing agreements with international public health group Medicines Patent Pool.
Merck has licensing pacts for its pill in more than 100 countries, raising hope that the drugs could be vital in developing countries where health services are under intense pressure because of the low vaccination rate and a lack of critical care beds in hospitals.
