Pfizer’s oral Covid treatment, Paxlovid, being produced in a laboratory in Freiburg, Germany. It includes a new pill, nirmatrelvir, as well as an existing medicine, ritonavir, that helps it remain in the body longer.Credit…Pfizer, via Getty Images A highly anticipated study of Pfizer ’s oral Covid treatment confirmed that it helps stave off severe disease, the company announced on Tuesday. Pfizer also said its antiviral treatment, taken in pill form, worked in laboratory studies against the Omicron variant , which is surging in South Africa and Europe and is expected to dominate U.S. cases in the weeks ahead. “We are confident that, if authorized or approved, this potential treatment could be a critical tool to help quell the pandemic,” Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chief executive, said in a statement. Last month, Pfizer asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize the treatment, known as Paxlovid, based on a preliminary batch […]