Coronavirus / COVID

A retrospective cohort study of more than 29 million patients found adults with prior semaglutide use had significantly lower 30-day mortality, hospitalization, and acute kidney injury after COVID-19 or influenza infection compared with a metformin comparator group.

Shionogi's XOCOVA (ensitrelvir) is now available in the United States as the first oral option to help prevent COVID-19 after exposure, following phase 3 SCORPIO-PEP trial data showing a 67% reduction in symptomatic infection risk.

A large platform trial evaluates diverse medications to relieve fatigue persisting post-acute COVID-19.

A look back at Q2 2026's most significant infectious disease developments, including landmark FDA approvals, a historic hantavirus outbreak, and an update on a mRNA influenza vaccine.

Invivyd has dosed the first participants in LIBERTY, a phase 3 trial comparing VYD2311 to an mRNA COVID vaccine and coadministration, as the BLA-enabling DECLARATION trial completes enrollment.

The FDA has approved ensitrelvir (Xocova) for postexposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 in adults and children 12 years or older, making it the first and only oral antiviral authorized to help prevent symptomatic infection after exposure.

A 12-month longitudinal analysis of 852 children found two-thirds of those with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection reported at least one of 20 post-COVID symptoms, with anxiety and depression equally prevalent in uninfected peers.

New phase 3 data from the SCORPIO-PEP study showed that a 5-day course of ensitrelvir significantly reduced the risk of symptomatic COVID-19 after household exposure, highlighting its potential to transform prevention strategies for high-risk populations and future variant-driven surges.

The agency’s acting director took the unusual step of withholding the publication of the study findings in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which showed the vaccine was protective against hospitalization and emergency department visits.

A newly identified SARS-CoV-2 variant, BA32, is spreading globally with mutations that may reduce vaccine and prior infection protection, underscoring the continued importance of genomic surveillance.

The FDA’s biologics center faces another leadership shake-up as Vinay Prasad, MD, MPH, plans an exit in April, leaving questions over vaccine rules and gene-therapy approvals.

Despite increased risk for severe outcomes, most older adults and those with comorbidities do not receive antiviral treatment for COVID-19.

Moderna has cleared a major regulatory milestone in Europe after the EMA’s CHMP recommended approval of mRNA-1083 (mCOMBRIAX), the world’s first combined influenza and COVID-19 vaccine for adults aged 50 and older.

Traws Pharma announced positive phase 2 results showing its investigational COVID-19 antiviral ratutrelvir as a possible alternative to Paxlovid, including for ineligible patients, while advancing tivoxavir marboxil as a once-monthly oral prophylactic for seasonal influenza.

Invivyd has aligned with the FDA on the design of a phase 3 trial evaluating the safety and immunology of the company's monoclonal antibody, VYD2311, vs mRNA COVID vaccines and in co-administration.

Findings from a growing body of randomized trials and real-world analyses show that starting metformin during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection is safe and significantly reduces the risk of developing long COVID.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has published its 2026 immunization schedule, reaffirming routine vaccination to protect children and adolescents against 18 preventable diseases.

The federal agency gave the nod for Acon Laboratories’ Flowflex Plus RSV + Flu A/B + COVID 4-in-1 test that can detect all those respiratory viruses in a single test, which is indicated for use in both adults and children as young as 6 months.

Although the declared COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency has passed, the CDC reports continued high numbers of illnesses, medical visits, hospitalizations and deaths.

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified long-standing problems in scientific production and communication—driven by perverse academic incentives, peer review strain, media hype, and growing misuse of AI—highlighting the urgent need for stronger critical appraisal skills across research and medicine.

A series of politically driven actions in 2025—including defunding mRNA research, dismantling vaccine advisory bodies, and restricting CDC recommendations—has undermined US vaccine access and pandemic preparedness, but professional societies and some states are stepping in to preserve evidence-based public health.

Questions raised about unverified FDA claims linking COVID-19 vaccines to pediatric deaths, and concerns that proposed vaccine testing requirements could delay access to key immunizations.

Anticipating possible constraints on the approval of COVID-19 vaccines and their removal from the CDC pediatric vaccine schedule, a medical ethicist and legal scholar consider off-label vaccination.

A review of vaccine safety and effectiveness conducted by the Vaccine Integrity Project, independent of the CDC's ACIP, reflects its stated purpose as "dedicated to safeguarding vaccine use in the US."

Seven months of clinical data corroborated emergency authorization of 2024-2025 mRNA COVID-19 vaccines for circulating JN.1 subvariants.