It has been about a month since the Biden administration lifted the public health emergency for Covid-19. The virus, though, is expected to be a nuisance and a threat for the foreseeable future. The evolution of Covid-19 and how best to treat it remains the focus of numerous studies, both short-term and long-term.
MyMCM spoke with Dr. Cliff Lane, a physician scientist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Lane joined the agency 43 years ago. He currently serves as the Deputy Director for Clinical Research and Special Projects and also leads the agency’s Division of Clinical Research. Lane’s primary focus during the pandemic was to determine the best therapeutics to treat Covid-19:
Dr. Lane says Remdesivir and Paxlovid are current treatments for Covid-19. Convalescent plasma and another anti-viral called Molnupiravir also are available under the Emergency Use Authorization.
Lane says work continues at NIAID to develop other therapeutics. He said finding treatments that “benefit a majority of patients is a game changer from multiple perspectives -not just the improvement in health outcomes including fewer deaths, but also reducing the degree of fear and anxiety associated with that disease.”
