Almost a third of people report at least one ongoing symptom between 6 and 12 months after their coronavirus infection, according to a survey of 152,000 people in Denmark.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a lot of talk about the “new normal,” with most people wanting to get back to the “old normal.” Two-plus years into the pandemic, it’s obvious that COVID-19 is not going away, prompting discussion about what this “new normal” will actually look like.

Merck & Co. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics announced they have supplied about 3.1 million courses of their antiviral drug against COVID-19, molnupiravir, to the U.S. government. In other news, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health found that vaccination against COVID-19 not only protects pregnant women against the disease but their babies as well.

Amidst news of current COVID-19 vaccines proving less effective against infections with Delta and Omicron variants of the disease, researchers are turning toward the development of pan-coronavirus vaccines that would work effectively against multiple variants. Scientists and researchers at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMC) in Maryland have been doing just that over the past two years and announced they are testing the vaccine in humans in a Phase I study.

The prevailing theory about the Omicron variant is that it is going to rip through the population quickly and possibly burn out, marking the downside of the COVID-19 pandemic. But researchers are expressing concern about a subvariant of Omicron dubbed BA.2 that appears to be tearing through Denmark, just as the first Omicron wave subsided.

COVID-19 vaccines using mRNA technology do not affect fertility outcomes during in-vitro fertilization (IVF), researchers found. Other new findings suggest the bacteria living in the small intestine may contribute to the risk for long COVID after infection with SARS-CoV-2.

According to a recent study conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 76 percent of the adverse side effects (such as fatigue or headache) that people experienced after receiving their first COVID-19 vaccination were also reported by participants who received a placebo shot.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and White House chief medical advisor, said they expect the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children under the age of 5 years in the next month.

A large U.S. study suggests college athletes who become infected with the coronavirus are very unlikely to have any lasting effects. Small studies have suggested that a common prostate cancer treatment might protect Covid-19 patients from becoming seriously ill.

Evidence is emerging that not only can Covid-19 vaccines help prevent long Covid, but they could serve as a form of “rescue” for those already stricken with the condition.