A Not-So-New COVID Treatment?

COVID has been a battle that the whole world has been fighting, especially considering only about 13% of the world is vaccinated, and COVID has made itself known on every continent, including Antarctica. Vaccines were developed to help combat the alpha variant, which has now phased out to be a less dominant variant. The dominant variant now is the delta variant, and it has proven to be able to be contracted even with the vaccine. However, the vaccine does decrease the severity of the case, and greatly reduces chances of hospitalization or death. There are now works on a new vaccine against the delta variant, but some are worried that it will mutate before another vaccine is released and we will be stuck in a forever loop of catch up. Some hope that we can gain a large enough understanding to keep producing a new vaccine each year and be able to predict what the virus will be like in the coming year, much how scientists create vaccines for the flu. But now, there are some hopes that there is a remedy for the infected that reduces COVID cells.

The drug is a cheap generic drug that can reduce COVID cells by up to 70%, as reported by Medical News Today. The drug was designed to lower and control cholesterol levels, but some studies may show that it’s the next big break through for the medical industry against COVID-19. MNT states, “The drug, called fenofibrate, regulates cholesterol levels but also destabilizes the spike protein on SARS-CoV-2 and inhibits binding to human cells.” It was also tested against multiple variants, and MNT reports, “It was effective against all SARS-CoV-2 variants that the scientists tested in vitro.” When it feels like we have been taking steps backwards, this might be our biggest step forward in a while. Especially considering the drug is affordable and could have a large impact on lower income communities around the world. The delta variant is currently undergoing testing against the drug to test its efficacy.

If this drug continues to prove itself as a viable for COVID with the testing on the Delta variant, we could be taking a big step in fighting COVID. At least, we would have less deaths and hospitalizations if it continues to work. It is currently under clinical trials and we will see in the coming time if it will be allowed to be a treatment for COVID.