In a potential game-changer in the fight against COVID, the FDA has approved Pfizer’s pill to treat COVID.

While governments are working hard to get as many people vaccinated as possible, companies have also been working on better ways of treating those that contract the virus in the hopes of preventing the worst symptoms from developing.

Pfizer has now received authorization for the first pill designed to do just that.

“Today’s authorization introduces the first treatment for COVID-19 that is in the form of a pill that is taken orally — a major step forward in the fight against this global pandemic,” said Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “This authorization provides a new tool to combat COVID-19 at a crucial time in the pandemic as new variants emerge and promises to make antiviral treatment more accessible to patients who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19.” 

The pill, Pfizer’s Paxlovid, is not designed as a preventative medication, but should be taken “soon as possible after diagnosis of COVID-19 and within five days of symptom onset.”

Having an effective way to treat the virus after infection could save tens, or even hundreds of thousands of lives moving forward.