COVID-19

Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, dominated in 2022 with forecast sales of $37 billion. The vaccine is expected to maintain these sales going into the future, with with sales forecasts up by 16%.

Up to half of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 may experience symptoms lasting beyond three months post-infection, including severe fatigue, organ system-based symptoms and other persistent symptoms.

A 72-year-old man developed worsening myalgia while taking Paxlovid. The FDA and authors of a case report in JAMA Internal Medicine today says patients who would benefit from Paxlovid should be advised to temporarily stop taking statins and other drugs with potentially serious drug-drug interactions with Paxlovid.

Healthcare leaders are urging the public in a new public service announcement to make sure they are up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccines, including the updated bivalent booster dose when eligible.

Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. have indicated that they are going to price their shots at between $110 and $130. The shots should still be free to individuals because of rules barring out-of-pocket costs for such vaccinations.

Though, unvaccinated people are at much greater risk for severe outcomes than folks the same age who are caught up on boosters.

The public health emergency (PHE) has again been renewed for the COVID-19 pandemic as of yesterday by the Biden administration. The announcement was made by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, which marks it as the 12th renewal.

It was found that excess mortality for this group of people with disabilities was 7.4 times that of community-dwelling Medicaid beneficiaries of the same age who were not receiving home and community-based services, and 26.6 times that of the general population.

Less than half (45%) of all nursing facility residents and less than a quarter of staff (22%) are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations. That is a sharp drop from the 87% of nursing facility residents and staff who completed their primary vaccination series.

Spending climbed by 2.7% in 2021. In 2020, it soared by 10.3%, fueled by federal government spending in response to the pandemic. The blizzard of calculations of 2021 healthcare spending by CMS’ actuaries also provides further evidence that utilization of healthcare services bounced back in 2021.

Dr. Syra Madad of the NYC hospital system and an Infectious Disease Epidemiologist at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs responded to Dr. Anthony Fauci's, director of NIAID, statement made in late November that the U.S. is “certainly” still in the middle of a Covid-19 pandemic.

A recent study shows teenagers' mental health and brain maturation increased due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Evidence that COVID-19 might affect male fertility is accumulating, although it is an incomplete picture and there is no final word on the subject. This study found a possible effect on concentration but not on sperm motility or morphology.

Results reported by CDC researchers show a sharp drop-off in HIV prevention and care services, such as preexposure prophylaxis prescriptions, in the second quarter of 2020 but then a rebound in third quarter.

Liver stiffness can increase in patients with a history of COVID-19 infection. The use of ultrasound shear wave elastography showed a significant increase in stiffness.

While initial infection of the virus has resulted in risk of hospitalization and mortality, researchers looked into the effects of reinfection as data has been unclear.

Children and young adults can experience post-acute or long COVID-19 symptoms just as adults can.

Findings by researchers at Epic, the electronic health record company, show that the benefits extend to people ages 50-64.

The antiviral agent, Molnupiravir, is likely to decrease the chances of hospitalization and death related to COVID-19 by 30%.

The writer has firsthand experience with the testing physicians may order to find out whether COVID-19 has damaged a patient’s heart.

Long, the vice president of industry relations at IQVIA, gives his take on the lingering effects of the pandemic on the healthcare sector and pharmaceutical market.

Data was collected by researchers to understand the underlying mechanisms and for continuous surveillance of long-term impacts of COVID-19 on Alzheimer’s disease.

The "end is in sight" for the COVID-19 pandemic, as the number of related deaths world-wide last week was the lowest reported since March 2020.

Findings reported in JAMA Network Open today show more than one-third of infected preschoolers are asymptomatic. The results call into question COVID-19 prevention strategies based on screening young children for symptoms.

Findings from a cros-sectional study reported by Yale and Mount Sinai researchers last week in a preprint last week linked long COVID to low levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, and possibly to reactivation of latent Epstein-Barr virus infections. Eric Topol called the study one of the best of long COVID so far.

United States employees who lacked access to paid leave missed out on an estimated $28 billion in wages over the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Patients with blood cancers have been reported to have less of a chance to develop immunity from the COVID-19 vaccination. However, new data has been found stating those who have been previously vaccinated with no immunity and then followed up with a booster dose, eventually developed antibodies against the virus.

Some researchers have pointed to the benefits of a single-payer system such as the one in Canada. But the author of the PNAS commentary, David Fisman, say it may be trace back to the more communitarian outlook of Canadians

White House COVID-19 coordinator Ashish Jha tweeted last week that “we know how to manage this moment.” News coverage and social media posting about the BA.5 variant crested as the variant became the dominant strain circulating in the U.S.

Epic research suggests that like COVID-19, flu and other viral pneumonias can result in long-term symptoms like fatigue and brain fog. Why that might be is an open question.