The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Defense (DoD)  released two documents outlining the United States Government's detailed strategy to deliver safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine doses to the American people as quickly and reliably as possible. 

A recent study examined four seasonal human coronaviruses (not SARS CoV-2) to determine the reinfection rate. The study, conducted on healthy individuals over 35 years, found that reinfection with the same seasonal coronavirus occurred frequently at 12 months after infection.

A recent study of 175 patients who recovered from mild COVID-19 antibody titers varied substantially at the time of discharge. In some patients, antibodies were not detected. This means further research is needed to understand COVID-19 antibodies. 

The Massachusetts General Hospital in collaboration with colleagues at University College London, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania - analyzed data on government-issued orders on statewide physical distancing measures and compared changes in COVID-19 cases and COVID-19-attributed deaths in states that implemented physical distancing measures before and after implementation. The findings of the model suggest that statewide physical distancing measures reduced the total number of reported COVID-19 cases by approximately 1,600 cases by one week after implementation and - due to the exponential growth of the spread - by approximately 621,000 cases by three weeks after implementation.  This study was released in PLOS Medicine. 

Traditional medical care will likely look very different in the post-pandemic world. Routine medical care and even surgery and childbirth may be performed in an office or home setting, as patients seek to reduce exposure to COVID-19 and other infectious agents. As more technology necessary for medical care beomes accessbile and mobile, the treatment platforms will transition to less centralized care.

A randomized, controlled clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of a treatment regimen consisting of the antiviral remdesivir plus the immunomodulator interferon beta-1a in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has begun. The study, called the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial 3 (ACTT 3), is anticipated to enroll more than 1,000 hospitalized adults with COVID-19 at as many as 100 sites in the United States and abroad. 

In a comparative analysis published late last week in Clinical Infectious Diseases, the antiviral drug remdesivir was linked to significantly greater recovery and a 62% lower death rate by day 14 versus standard treatment in hospitalized adults with severe COVID-19. Researchers used data from 298 participants in an ongoing phase 3 trial of remdesivir at 45 international sites, as well as retrospective data from an ongoing real-world longitudinal study of 816 patients given standard treatment at 16 international sites.

Research out of Boston University shows "Nanosponges" could act as a decoy and prevent the SARS-CoV-2 virus from taking hold of lung cells. This Research was supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency Joint Science and Technology office for Chemical and Biological Defense. 

A recent study found 30% of all published papers since January 2020 on COVID-19 were authored by women. This study suggests gender biases seem to be affecting COVID-19 research similar to other scientific areas, highlighting that women are consistently being under-represented.

A recent study in Nature found shutdown orders prevented 60 million COVID-19 infections in the United States and 285 million COVID-19 infections in China.