Has the Omicron wave hit you yet? As the new variant has been making its rounds, Pfizer (PFE) has announced its newly authorized Covid-19 pill has proved effective against the new variant and its numerous mutations. Although the research hasn’t been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, the results have been tested in three different, separate labs for its effectiveness. Patients would take two tablets of nirmatrelvir (the main component of Paxlovid) and a tablet of the antiviral drug ritonavir twice a day for five days. Unlike other Covid-19 drugs, Paxlovid targets the virus’s ability to replicate helping it by pass the spike’s protein, the main reason Omicron and its mutations are so spreadable.

Supplies, however, are scarce as the science is complicated and the manufacturing can take about nine months total from sourcing ingredients to end product. The White House has worked with the pharmaceutical company to lessen the drug’s clinical trials so the drug would be available much faster. The company aims to produce roughly seven million dosages in the first quarter of 2022 and 120 million by the end of the year.