A drug with potential gets government backing

There was a big spotlight placed on the drug remdesivir when early test results showed it could shorten the duration of severe Covid-19 cases. 

To be clear, this is not a vaccine, or a cure for the pandemic gripping the world. But it is perhaps the first drug treatment to show enough promise that the U.S. government will begin shipping tens of thousands of doses of the drug after receiving emergency authorization to use it.

No other drug or treatment has so far shown much promise.

Mortality rates were slightly lower in those who received the drug than those who didn’t receive the drug. We don’t know if medication alone impacted mortality rates, but we did see a benefit in hospitalization and recovery too. In the study highlighted by the White House, patients who received the drug had their recovery shortened to 11 days, compared to 15 days in those who didn’t get the drug.

That’s important because it shows a proof of concept: that drugs can impact the virus.

For now, the government will decide where these initial doses of drugs will be shipped. And hopefully they will continue to have a good effect on some of those in the most desperate need while we continue the search for a treatment or vaccine.