Can we still contain, and possibly eliminate, COVID-19? Yes, and here is how

It is becoming increasingly clear that we have misunderstood SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Many people, including some experts in the scientific community, deemed the pandemic over with the release of the mRNA vaccines. The belief—or perhaps it was hope in disguise—was that with the development of the vaccines, we could go back to living our lives as usual, back to a semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy. This simply is not so, as evidenced by surging cases around the world and the continued onslaught of variant after variant.

Even the latest approach, trying to play catch-up with variants by updating our vaccines to match the dominant circulating strain, is a losing game; we will always be one step behind, forced to adapt to the cards we are dealt rather than dictating the playing field. This should come as no surprise. Across the globe, highly skilled influenza researchers have been battling for decades to develop long-lasting, broadly neutralizing flu shots. Although plenty of progress has been made, we still have yearly flu seasons, some of which are plagued by low vaccine efficacy—in 2021/2022, the vaccine was only 36% effective at preventing influenza cases requiring medical attention.¹

At this point, we seem to have accepted that we will be living with COVID-19 for the foreseeable future; such complacency is very dangerous. “Living with the virus” is no different from living with a pet lion; there is never any guarantee of safety. We know SARS-CoV-2 can change rapidly, we know it can become far more virulent, and we have no idea of the determinants of pathogenesis.

Our single-minded reliance on vaccines, at the expense of developing novel drug therapies, has left us fighting with one hand tied behind our back. Our current antivirals are anemic at best: they are either no longer effective, like most monoclonal antibodies, or they simply cannot prevent infection in the first place. If we ever hope to control COVID-19, we need to join the battle fully. This means a dramatic increase in resources to fund drug development efforts. The problem is not a lack of tools; it is a lack of political, scientific, and economic will. It is time to change that.

What follows is a summary of the shortcomings of our currently available antiviral drugs as well as a brief overview of some promising, up-and-coming contenders.

Read the full story at Inside Precision Medicine.