Certain drugs used to treat HIV may have a role in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections, according to preliminary data that may help explain why people living with the condition have not appeared to be at higher risk for serious COVID-19 despite being generally more vulnerable to infections. Additionally, having COVID-19 and influenza at the same time puts hospitalized adults at much greater risk of critical illness and death compared to having COVID-19 without the flu, researchers reported in The Lancet.

An experimental vaccine developed by GeoVax Labs Inc. succeeded in promoting development of antibodies that target two different sites on the virus in a small pilot study and was advanced to mid-stage clinical trials, researchers reported.
COVID-19 patients who receive one of the few antibody treatments that works against the Omicron variant must be carefully monitored because after the drug is infused, the virus may mutate and become resistant to it, researchers warned after seeing such cases with Delta variant patients.

A third booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine made by AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech or Johnson & Johnson increases antibody levels significantly in those who have previously received two doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac shot, a study has found.

The Lancet published CanSino Biologics Inc.’s Phase III clinical trial results on the safety and efficacy of the company’s recombinant novel coronavirus vaccine, Convidecia.

The inexpensive antidepressant fluvoxamine might help keep patients with Covid-19 from developing severe disease, according to a study published in The Lancet Global Health. Researchers found in another study that the coronavirus can infect cells of the inner ear, which may help explain the balance problems, hearing loss and tinnitus (ringing in the ears) experienced by some Covid-19 patients.

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.

The effectiveness of the Pfizer Inc./BioNTech SE vaccine in preventing infection by the coronavirus dropped to 47 percent from 88 percent six months after the second dose, according to data published on Oct. 4 that U.S. health agencies considered when deciding on the need for booster shots.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago published what they are calling a “first of its kind study” that found a possible direct link between neurodegenerative diseases and the herpesvirus.

Additional Covid-19 vaccine booster shots are not needed for the general population, leading scientists including two departing senior U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials and several from the World Health Organization (WHO) said in an article published in a medical journal on Sept. 13.

The body of real-world evidence around Covid-19 continues to build, and a study released Aug. 26 in The Lancet points to concerning long-term effects for hospital survivors at the one-year mark.