The rise of the more infectious BA.2 variant in the U.S. — plus signals in the sewage — also point to a possible uptick in cases, and have health officials on alert.

States and health providers report they've dispensed less than half their supply from the government, raising fears that the drugs may go to waste while people who could benefit get sicker.

The Biden administration's new program enables high-risk patients who test positive to get antiviral pills on the spot in some pharmacies. But many pharmacies won't be able to participate.

A new program will pair tests and COVID pills in pharmacies, solving some of the timing issues with the pills. This is currently limited to pharmacies that have an on-site prescribing clinician.

Doctors and health researchers are looking to testing rates, case rates – and intuition – to determine when they'll feel comfortable mingling maskless indoors.

The federal health agency released new guidance for when Americans need to mask up indoors, saying about 70% of the population lives in a place where it's safe to go mask free.

The antiviral pill molnupiravir was authorized and distributed by the government late last year. But it's not doctors' first choice of treatment, except for a narrow slice of patients.

The antiviral infusion was just revived as an early treatment for COVID patients. But the drug is relatively expensive and hard to administer, relegating it to what some are calling "stopgap" status.

The antiviral infusion Remdesivir was just revived as an early treatment for COVID. It can be expensive and hard to administer, but is useful when monoclonals and pills are in short supply like now.

The FDA curbed the use of two out of three monoclonal antibody treatments. Studies show they're highly unlikely to work against the omicron variant, which is overwhelming hospitals.

So far the government has distributed about 300,000 doses of Evusheld, a new drug that protects against COVID-19. Some 7 million Americans could benefit from the drug right away.

Antibody-based drug Evusheld protects immune-suppressed people against COVID-19 for up to six months. The drug is hard to get, and some hospitals are selecting patients by lottery.

When he came into office, Biden launched an ambitious seven-point plan for defeating the virus. Here's how experts score his results.

Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say kids as young as 12 should get booster shots. This endorsement clears the way for the CDC to approve boosters for kids between 12 and 15.

Those who contracted COVID-19 can end their isolation after five days while continuing to wear a well-fitting mask for an additional five days, according to the agency.

Cutting the isolation for positive cases to five days could lead to more infections if people don't take masking seriously. A testing requirement would have made the policy safer, experts say.

The CDC says the change is "motivated by science" showing that it's not necessary to isolate for 10 days. During a surge of a more transmissible variant, is it a good idea to revise the guideline?

CDC advisers called an emergency meeting to review new data and update their recommendations for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. It's been linked to very rare blood clotting that can be fatal.

Pfizer's analysis shows that the drug is good at keeping people at high risk of COVID-19 from getting worse. The pill is called Paxlovid.

The first case of the omicron COVID variant has been identified in the U.S. Health officials found it in a traveler who had returned from South Africa just before Thanksgiving.