Emergency Use Authorisation for the Merck drug Molnupiravir -- an oral antiviral medicine for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 -- is likely "within days", Dr Ram Vishwakarma, Chairman of the Covid Strategy Group, CSIR, told NDTV today. The medicine is meant for adults who are at risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 or hospitalization. Another pill from Pfizer, Paxlovid, may take some more time, he added. The two drugs, he said, will make a difference and "as we move from pandemic to endemic, these are the ones which are going to be more important than vaccination".
