Emergency Use Authorization

President Biden’s bout with COVID-19 is illustrative of the debate currently raging about “Paxlovid rebound” — the recurrence of symptoms and of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 after a seemingly successful five-day treatment course of Paxlovid.

Sometimes it feels as if it’s March 2020 again.

The good news? There's a very effective antiviral drug called Paxlovid that will keep you alive and out of the hospital when/if omicron gets you, and a second drug, molnupiravir, which doesn't work as well, but can still be helpful. The bad news?

It's not totally absurd to compare our war against COVID with a boxing match. The virus clearly won Round 1; aside from masks and isolation, we were pretty much defenseless.

There is widespread anticipation of the availability of vaccines to prevent COVID-19 infections so that Americans can get their lives back to some semblance of normal.

Like the diseases they treat, medical interventions follow a time course. Intervention can be too early or late but is best at some mythical “Goldilocks” moment.