This analysis of the largest randomised trial involving people vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 infection who are at increased risk of adverse outcomes in the community and unwell with COVID-19 showed that the early addition of molnupiravir to usual care did not reduce hospital admissions or death (which were low in both treatment groups). However, participants in the molnupiravir plus usual care group recovered faster than those in the usual care group, had a higher rate of early sustained recovery, and had fewer general practitioner consultations. This faster patient-reported recovery was consistent with a reduction in detectable virus and viral load in participants who received molnupiravir compared with those who received usual care only. We did not identify any patient subgroup in which molnupiravir was associated with a reduced chance of hospital admission, and benefits in terms of time to first self-report of recovery were evenly distributed across subgroups. We recorded few serious adverse events in the trial, and none definitely related to molnupiravir.