TheCable

Nigeria has reported 87 fresh COVID-19 infections. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Friday.

UK becomes first country to approve antiviral COVID-19 pill

The United Kingdom (UK) has become the first country in the world to authorise the use of oral antiviral drug for the treatment of COVID-19.

On Thursday, the UK approved molnupiravir, the first COVID-19 antiviral pill jointly developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recommended that molnupiravir be used as soon as possible.

Europe could suffer 500,000 more COVID deaths by February, WHO warns

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the “pandemic resurgence” in Europe may result in another 500,000 deaths by February 2022.

Hans Kluge, WHO Europe director, said on Thursday the highly infectious delta variant is fuelling new COVID cases on the continent.

“Today, every single country in our region is facing a real threat of COVID-19 resurgence or already fighting it,” Kluge said.

“We are at another critical point of pandemic resurgence…Europe is back at the epicentre of the pandemic, where we were one year ago.”

Biden committed to finding COVID-19 origin, says White House

The White House says knowing the origins of COVID-19 remains a key focus of President Joe Biden’s administration.

Karine Jean-Pierre, White House spokesperson, said “time is of the essence” and the US will continue to push for answers while demanding transparency from China.

“It’s incredibly important for us to get to the bottom of this,” Jean-Pierre said.

EU drug regulator reviewing data on AstraZeneca booster shots

The European Medicine Agency (EMA) says it is reviewing data of AstraZeneca over possible authorisation of its booster shot.

“AstraZeneca is submitting data to us. Actually today they submitted a new package of data that could support an extension to use the booster,” Marco Cavaleri, EMA head of vaccine strategy, said.