Pfizer's Paxlovid combines two antiviral drugs to fight the virus that causes COVID-19. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption
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COVID treatments
Starting May 11 most people will have to pay for those at-home test kits for COVID-19, as the federal government's declaration of a COVID-19 public health emergency officially ends. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption
Pfizer's Paxlovid pills are considered the most effective treatment to prevent severe COVID. They're about to be sold in China. But they are reportedly underused in the U.S. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption
Antonio Rapuano got an infusion of a monoclonal antibody to treat his COVID in Albano, Italy in 2021. Such infusions have been effective treatments for COVID during the pandemic, but doctors are now finding that most monoclonal antibodies no longer work against new variants of SARS-CoV-2. Yara Nardi/Reuters hide caption
How monoclonal antibodies lost the fight with new COVID variants
TK thomas hansmann.fotograf/Pfizer hide caption
Treatments like monoclonal antibody infusions and antiviral pills can prevent a case of COVID-19 from becoming life-threatening. But many of the available drugs are not being used. Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
Paxlovid tablets are packaged at a Pfizer factory in Italy. Pfizer hide caption
Feds' contract with Pfizer for Paxlovid has some surprises
Evusheld is a treatment authorized for prevention of COVID-19 in people who are seriously immunocompromised or who have had serious adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines. Peter Bostrom/AstraZeneca hide caption
Hospitals use a lottery to allocate scarce COVID drugs for the immunocompromised
The COVID antiviral drugs are here but they're scarce. Here's what to know
Pfizer's antiviral pill Paxlovid was authorized to treat COVID-19, by the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday. David Dee Delgado/Getty Images hide caption
Molnupiravir, an antiviral drug to treat mild to moderate COVID-19, is under consideration by the FDA for possible authorization. Merck hide caption
New antiviral drugs are coming for COVID. Here's what you need to know
Jennifer Minhas had been a nurse for years when she contracted COVID-19 in 2020. Since then, lingering symptoms — what's known as long-haul COVID-19 — made it impossible for her to work. For months, she and her doctors struggled to understand what was behind her fatigue and rapid heartbeat, among other symptoms. Tara Pixley for NPR hide caption
Deaths from COVID-19 are often due to the immune system overreacting to the coronavirus. New drugs to suppress that reaction are showing promise, say researchers. Westend61/Getty Images hide caption
Nurse Janet Gilleran prepares to treat COVID-19 patient Mike Mokler with bamlanivimab, a monoclonal antibody drug from Eli Lilly, at the Respiratory Infection Clinic of Tufts Medical Center in Boston on Dec. 31, 2020. Craig F. Walker/Boston Globe via Getty Images hide caption
Dexamethasone is a low-cost, anti-inflammatory drug that has been shown to reduce the risk of death in patients with COVID-19. Nati Harnik/AP hide caption
President Trump's team of medical specialists overseeing his care at Walter Reed National Military Medical center. He will still have access to round-the-clock care from the White House medical staff. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Convalescent serum or blood plasma from a recovered COVID-19 patients is being studied as a treatment for others with the disease. The FDA is holding off on giving it emergency use authorization. Arnulfo Franco/AP hide caption