With increasing concerns about COVID-19 reinfection, Pfizer and the National Institutes of Health are discussing potential studies regarding a longer treatment period with the antiviral medication Paxlovid.

Although research is being conducted on Long COVID or Long COVID-19, whose symptoms continue for weeks and months after initial infection, there are very few ongoing clinical trials on treatments. Anecdotally, there has been what appears to be a successful treatment for Long Covid using Pfizer’s antiviral regimen Paxlovid.

The U.S. national public health agency said on March 29 that the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron was estimated to account for more than half the coronavirus variants in the country.

Top U.S. infectious disease official Dr. Anthony Fauci said on March 22 he would not be surprised to see an increase in COVID-19 cases in the United States, but he does not expect a major surge.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla raked in $24.3 million in total compensation in 2021. In other news, tinnitus (ringing or buzzing in one or both ears) might be a side effect of COVID-19 vaccines.

While Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech have submitted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) requests for their COVID-19 vaccines, the data so far suggest the benefits of a fourth shot may be modest.

Pfizer Inc. and the company’s German partner BioNTech SE on March 15 filed an application with U.S. regulators seeking emergency use authorization for a second booster shot of their COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 65 and older.

Top U.S. health officials on March 2 laid out a national blueprint to manage COVID-19 going forward, vowing to prepare for any new variant outbreaks without shutting down schools and businesses and calling for additional funding from Congress.

Anthony Fauci

Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on February 16 that it is time for the United States to start inching back towards normality, despite remaining risks from COVID-19.

At least 1 in 5 Americans have been infected with COVID-19. In other news, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Gilead Sciences’ supplemental New Drug Application for Veklury (remdesivir) for adults and adolescents with COVID-19 who are not hospitalized but are at high risk of progression to severe COVID-19, hospitalization or death.