Getting rid of COVID from your body with just a pill surely sounds great. The Merck pharma group had endeared the world when it brought the molnupiravir pill for fighting the coronavirus. But even so, a full analysis of trial results shows that the drug is not as effective as the researchers initially believed, as FINANCIAL TIMES reveals.
Merck said that molnupiravir showed a relative risk decrease of 30 percent in a trial that involved 1,400 enrolled patients. When publishing preliminary data on a smaller amount of patients, Merck even said that the reduction was roughly 50 percent.
Ten deaths reported in the full analysis
When the full analysis came out, it turned out that one person died from the molnupiravir group, and nine people passed away from the placebo group.
There’s still plenty of good news, as Merck says that the new data still supports the efficacy of the molnupiravir drug when it comes to treating COVID in mild to moderate forms for adults that are at high risk of progression of the disease.
Officials continue to add a lot of faith in the COVID vaccines, and countries are trying to convince more of their citizens to get vaccinated. Austria even made the vaccines compulsory for all of its citizens starting February 1, despite the well-known controversies.
Chancellor Schallenberg said the following, as quoted by Daily Mail:
For a long time there was consensus in this country that we do not want vaccinations to be compulsory. For a long time, maybe too long, it was assumed that it would be possible to achieve a high vaccination rate even without an obligation. Now we have to face reality.
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