The first at-home treatment for Covid-19 could reportedly be offered to patients before Christmas in a bid to protect vulnerable people from the Omicron strain.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid is set to launch a national pilot of the Molnupiravir antiviral pill, also known as Lagevrio, according to .
Molnupiravir, which can be taken at home, is for people who have had a positive Covid test and have at least one risk factor for developing severe illness, such as obesity, being over the age of 60, diabetes or heart disease.
Under the plans, the NHS is reportedly expected to deliver courses of the tablet to clinically vulnerable and immunosuppressed patients within as little as 48 hours of them testing positive for Covid.
It is understood that hospitals and GPs have been told a series of Covid medicines delivery units were being established to ensure the treatment gets to patients as quickly as possible - once it is confirmed they have the virus.
It comes after the UK Health Security Agency said a further 26 cases of the Omicron variant have been reported across the UK, with 25 of these in England, meaning the total number of confirmed cases of the variant in Britain now stands at 160.
Molnupiravir, which can be taken at home, is for people who have had a positive Covid test and have at least one risk factor for developing severe illness, such as obesity (file photo)
Health Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured) is reportedly set to launch a national pilot of the Molnupiravir antiviral pill - also known as Lagevrio
Last month, the UK became the first country in the world to license the use of the drug - from Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) - in a move described as a 'game-changer' by Mr Javid.
But just over a week ago, England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty warned its use may have to be reconsidered in the light of the emergence of Omicron.
Prof Whitty told a Downing Street press conference: 'On the anti-virals, we are going to have to do a bit of a rethink on the basis of this new variant, just to be confident we've got the right indications from it.
'There's a variety of ways you could use it in different ways, and what we need to make sure is whatever stock we've got of these, what appear to be highly effective drugs, that we use in the most effective way and for the right people.
'Where you are in the pathway right from the very beginning… working out their place, we do need to think through and I think we probably need to do a rethink of it just to make sure with the new variant, we're targeting in the right direction.'
The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had previously said the drug is safe and effective at reducing the risk of hospital admission and death in people with mild to moderate Covid who are at extra risk from the virus.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: agualtiplan 'The UK has proven itself to be a world-leader in identifying and rolling out effective treatments for Covid-19, including through Government-backed national trials.
'The Government's antivirals task-force was launched to identify treatments for UK patients who have been exposed to Covid-19 to take at home, stopping the infection spreading and speeding up recovery time.
'There are a number of exciting opportunities in the pipeline and we will provide further details in due course.'
The drug works by interfering with the virus's replication and prevents it from multiplying by keeping levels low in the body.
It was announced last month that 480,000 courses of molnupiravir had been secured after a study found it cut the rate of hospital admission and death by 50 per cent in mild to moderately ill patients who had at least one risk factor for the disease.