A NEW vaccine has been provided in the fight against Covid-19 that can be taken orally.
Developed especially for those with weak immune systems, it is expected to arrive at Alicante province hospitals later this month.
Manufacturers claim it will, “write a full stop in the history of this pandemic.”
Named Paxlovid, the Pfizer jab will only be used in hospitals due to the current low production levels, but a worldwide rollout is anticipated as it is to be administered to a very specific group of patients.
Esperanza Merino is Head of the Infectious Diseases Unit at the Alicante General Hospital.

He said: “It will serve to treat older immunosuppressed people, and those with a number of other diseases.”
Trials have already shown that patients in those groups taking the drug see an 80% reduced possibility of Coronavirus worsening.
Pfizer claims that the Paxlovid pill will be equally effective against the Omicron variant, despite the trials being carried out when the Delta variant of the virus was prominent.
Merino claims the tablet can reduce hospital admissions and deaths by significant amounts.
He added: “There are two groups of patients who become seriously ill with coronavirus and die – the unvaccinated and those who do not respond to the vaccine because they have a very vulnerable immune system.”
Some 65 people are being treated in Alicante ICUs, a consistent number in recent weeks, despite the large region-wide increases in coronavirus cases.
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