The United Kingdom is planning to roll out
an anti-viral pill against COVID-19 as part of the National Health Service’s
(NHS) treatment plan against the contagious disease, a report by the Sunday
Telegraph stated. The pill, Molnupiravir, has been developed by American
pharmaceutical company Merck and has been touted as “game-changing”
medicine as it can be taken at home.

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Molnupiravir, also known as Lagevrio, will
be offered to the most vulnerable patients by Christmas.

The UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid is
reportedly preparing to announce the start of the rollout of the pill,
which the UK became the first country to approve last month. However, the
timeframe for the start of the programme has not been confirmed yet.

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The rollout will aim to prevent vulnerable
coronavirus patients from becoming seriously ill and needing hospital
treatment. Molnupiravir can be taken by those who have tested positive for
coronavirus and have at least one risk factor for developing severe illness, such
as obesity, being over 60, diabetes or heart disease.

The NHS will reportedly deliver courses of
the pill to clinically vulnerable and immunosuppressant patients within as
little as 48 hours of them testing positive for COVID-19.

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The UK will set up a series of “COVID
medicines delivery units” to help get the drug to patients as quickly as
possible once they test positive for the virus.

Patients vulnerable to high risk of
complications from coronavirus would be telephoned by their local COVID-19
medicines delivery unit to be offered the drug after they have tested positive,
according to reports.

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Most people are expected to be offered a
course of tablets to take at home, but some people will reportedly be given the
drug intravenously in hospital.

In October, the government announced it had
secured 480,000 courses of Molnupiravir after a study showed it reduced the
rate of hospital admissions and deaths by 50% in patients with mild to moderate
symptoms.