Researchers at Bar-Ilan University and the Galilee Medical Center identified an association between vitamin D deficiency and severity and mortality of COVID-19.

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.

Aside from vaccines, the advent of several effective COVID-19 antiviral therapies, including Pfizer’s Paxlovid, provides hope for ending the pandemic. Details about the U.S. government’s contract with Pfizer for 10 million doses of Paxlovid are emerging, with some unusual elements.

Gilead Sciences Inc.’s COVID-19 drug remdesivir during 2021 overtook AbbVie Inc.’s 20-year-old arthritis drug Humira as the medicine that U.S. hospitals spent the most on, according to Vizient Inc., a purchasing group used by about half the nation’s hospitals.

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.

The Omicron variant appears to result in less severe COVID-19 than seen during previous periods of high coronavirus transmission including the Delta wave, with shorter hospital stays, less need for intensive care and fewer deaths, according to a new U.S. study.

The U.S. government will make 400 million non-surgical N95 masks from its strategic national stockpile available for free to the public starting next week, a White House official said, marking the Biden administration’s latest effort to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

Top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci warned on January 5 against complacency about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, saying the sheer number of cases could strain hospitals despite signs of lower severity.

Zyter published a white paper focused on how evolving applications of IoT technologies are driving future growth and innovation for smart hospitals.

Union leaders representing 50,000 nurses and other U.S. medical staff reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser Permanente on November 13, averting a strike that could have disrupted patient care at hospitals.