Browse Coronavirus

During the 2022 clinical rollout of nirmatrelvir in Israel, most patients (78%) had previous SARS-CoV-2 immunity. Benefit was seen in patients at highest risk for Covid-19 progression, such as those 65 years of age or older.

In this audio interview conducted on August 30, 2022, the editors are joined by Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist of the World Health Organization, to discuss the work of the WHO in fighting SARS-CoV-2.

The protective effects of vaccination and prior infection on severe Covid-19 are reviewed, with proposed directions for future research, including mucosal immunity and intermittent vaccine boost strategies.

Conventional wisdom is that previous infection with omicron subvariant BA.1 or BA.2 does not protect against BA.5, but data from Portugal show considerable protection against BA.5 infection from previous BA.1 or BA.2 infection.

In this audio interview conducted on August 23, 2022, the editors discuss the use of antivirals to treat Covid-19 and a new study of the real-world effectiveness of nirmatrelvir.

In this audio interview conducted on August 16, 2022, the editors are joined by White House National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator Demetre Daskalakis to discuss the new public health emergency and what HIV and Covid-19 have taught us.

In this trial involving overweight or obese outpatients with Covid-19, investigators found that none of three repurposed drugs (metformin, ivermectin, and fluvoxamine) reduced the risk of serious disease.

In practicing evidence-based medicine, physicians use the best evidence currently available on safety and efficacy in making decisions on treatment choices for their patients. During the Covid-19 pandemic, some of the early treatment trials were rushed, leading to studies that were badly conducted¹ or had too few patients.

Data from Singapore on BNT162b2 vaccination in children 5 to 11 years of age showed that during a period of omicron-variant predominance, BNT162b2 reduced the risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection and Covid-19–related hospitalization.

Explicitly including race or ethnicity as a factor in government allocation of resources raises legal concerns. Litigation related to Covid-19 treatment guidance in New York highlights these issues.

In this audio interview conducted on August 9, 2022, the editors discuss the shifting benefits of preventive and therapeutic interventions against Covid-19 and what the future might bring.

It’s now feasible to track, for each patient seen at a health care facility, which Covid-19 vaccine they received when and what their clinical evaluation revealed.

In this ongoing household cohort study in Nicaragua, previous SARS-CoV-2 infection during a second Covid-19 wave provided some protection against symptomatic Covid-19, with greater protection against severe illness.

In this study, investigators who were evaluating in vitro neutralization of omicron subvariants by monoclonal antibodies and antiviral drugs found considerable variation among the agents.

In this audio interview conducted on August 2, 2022, the editors discuss soon-to-be-released Covid-19 vaccines against BA.4/BA.5 strains, as well as the current state of therapeutics for monkeypox.

In a small trial of boost immunization with the mRNA vaccine originally received or with heterologous boosting with spike proteins from the original strain or the beta variant, the beta-adjuvanted booster resulted in the highest titers of antibody and activated T cells 2 weeks later.

In this audio interview conducted on July 26, 2022, the editors are joined by ACTG Chair Judy Currier to discuss the evolving role of research groups in combatting Covid-19 and future epidemics.

Outpatients with Covid-19 were followed serially with frequent PCR and viral-culture assessments. The SARS-CoV-2 omicron (BA.1) variant could be cultured a median of 8 days after symptom onset or the initial positive test.

In this audio interview conducted on July 19, 2022, the editors are joined by Ashish Jha, White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator, to discuss the federal government’s therapeutics and vaccine strategy.