Australia’s medicines regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Authority (TGA), has provisionally approved two oral medications to treat COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus—Paxlovid by Pfizer and Lagevrio by Merck Sharp and Dohme. They are the first oral treatments for COVID-19 to be approved for adults in Australia who do not need oxygen therapy, but “who are at increased risk of progression to hospitalisation or death,” the TGA said in a release on Thursday. The TGA has recommended that either drug, both of which need a prescription and are taken twice a day for five days, should be administered as soon as possible after diagnosis and within five days of the onset of symptoms. While Lagevrio is available in capsules, Paxlovid consists of two separate tablets, nirmatrelvir and ritonavir. Lagevrio inhibits replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and it is not recommended during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Whereas the nirmatrelvir component of Paxlovid blocks …