People over the age of 50, or between 18 and 49 with an underlying health condition, can sign up to take part in a study on life-saving COVID-19 antiviral drugs.
They need to have had symptoms in the last five days to be eligible and have received a positive PCR or lateral flow test result.
This is the PANORAMIC trial, run by the University of Oxford, and it is open to the over 50s, as well as adults with an underlying health condition, if they test positive for COVID-19. Around 4,500 participants across the UK have already signed up to the study, but thousands more are being recruited.
Health Minister Robin Swann has urged people in Northern Ireland to sign up.
The Minister said: “Patients from Northern Ireland are among the thousands who have received the new drugs but at least 6,000 more participants are needed across the UK as soon as possible. This is so that expert scientists can understand more about how to deploy these life-saving treatments in the health service more widely later in the year.
“If you’re eligible, please step forward for the PANORAMIC trial and play your part in helping us to learn more about medicines which could save thousands of lives.”
Antivirals are medicines which are swallowed as a capsule to help treat people with COVID-19 infections to reduce the risk of hospitalisations and death.
Molnupiravir is currently being deployed through the study.
Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Michael McBride said antivirals are used after someone contracts the virus to slow it down, make symptoms less severe and complications less common.
“It’s so important that those vulnerable to COVID-19 have the best possible chance of staying protected against the virus and, most importantly, staying out of hospital. Antivirals can help with this. If you’re eligible for PANORAMIC please give serious consideration to taking part. This will help us decide how to use COVID-19 antiviral drugs for many years to come,” he added.
Several local GP-led research hubs are being established to ensure people in Northern Ireland get access to this new COVID-19 treatment, and those offering to participate in the trial will help researchers find out if it reduces symptoms and protects the most vulnerable in the community from needing hospital treatment.
Professor Nigel Hart, co-lead of the primary care group of the Northern Ireland Clinical Research Network (NICRN) and Lead Investigator for PANORAMIC in Northern Ireland, said there are already encouraging results.
The government, through the Antivirals Taskforce, has procured 4.98m courses of antivirals – including 2.23m courses of Molnupiravir and 2.75m courses of PF-07321332/ritonavir (also called Paxlovid).
Chief Pharmaceutical Officer Cathy Harrison said antivirals are an important addition to the response to COVID-19.
“Getting people enrolled onto this study will inform how we may deploy these medicines more widely as soon as possible. It is vital for that we continue to focus on the development and evaluation of new treatments for COVID-19,” she added.