Pfizer on Tuesday announced it started an early-stage clinical trial of an oral antiviral drug for Covid-19. Because it is taken by mouth, the drug could be used to treat newly infected Covid patients outside of the hospital. Pfizer already has an authorized vaccine in the U.S., but health experts have said the world will need an array of drugs and vaccines to end the pandemic.
Here are some of the biggest developments Wednesday:
The U.S. is recording at least 53,300 new Covid-19 cases and at least 940 virus-related deaths each day, based on a seven-day average calculated by CNBC using Johns Hopkins University data.
The following data was compiled by Johns Hopkins University:
- Global cases: More than 124.55 million
- Global deaths: At least 2.73 million
- U.S. cases: More than 29.99 million
- U.S. deaths: At least 545,027