The coronavirus vaccine was developed faster than any vaccine in history. It took just 332 days from the first sequencing of the virus genome to the first vaccines given to the public.
Zoë McLaren, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
A new over-the-counter COVID-19 test has been authorized by the FDA. Though it can be used to test people with and without symptoms, moderate cost and limited production mean it isn’t a game-changer.
The vaccines that will first be used to prevent the spread of COVID-19 will have gone through a special approval process with the FDA. but just what is this expedited process?
Popular pain medicines sold over the counter could be bad for a developing fetus. A pharmacologist explains why, and why the FDA is warning pregnant women to avoid these drugs.
Yelena Ionova, University of California, San Francisco
There are ingredients in your pills other than the one designed to treat your ailments. Those unnamed ingredients can alter how you respond to a medicine or even make you sick.
Zoë McLaren, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The new BinaxNOW antigen test is quick, easy, accurate and cheap. It could solve the US testing problem, but the emergency use authorization only allows people with COVID-19 symptoms to get tested.
Zoë McLaren, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Testing large numbers of people regularly would reduce the spread of the coronavirus in the US. Laboratory testing is slow and expensive, but rapid screening tests could be the answer.
The FDA has sped up its approval process for coronavirus treatments, creating a new division to expedite the regulatory process. But is safety being sidelined for speed?
Drugs and vaccines to fight the coronavirus are already in clinical trials. It is important to understand the difference between each step in this process as efforts to fight COVID-19 continue.
Vaccine development is usually a long process. The coronavirus pandemic is forcing researchers to innovate and test potential vaccines faster than ever before.
Professor and Director of Quantitative Biosciences Institute & Senior Investigator at the Gladstone Institutes, University of California, San Francisco