Merck Pill Wins Backing; Omicron Reaches Brazil: Virus Update

Merck & Co.’s Covid-19 pill gained a key recommendation from advisers to U.S. regulators. Meanwhile, the omicron variant reached Latin America as Brazil detected two cases.

The current generation of vaccines probably will still protect against severe disease in people infected by the variant, BioNTech SE Chief Executive Officer Ugur Sahin said. Oxford University said there’s no evidence omicron defeats the vaccine it developed with AstraZeneca Plc. In contrast, Moderna Inc. predicted vaccines will struggle with omicron.