383 - Molnupiravir: The Game-changing Oral Antiviral Pill for COVID-19?

This week, Merck applied for FDA Emergency Use Authorization for its COVID-19 oral antiviral drug, molnupiravir. Dr. Carl Dieffenbach, director of the Division of AIDS at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, talks with Stephanie Desmon about how the drug works to help people recover from COVID-19 quicker and the drug's history starting a decade ago as an experimental treatment for Ebola. Dieffenbach talks about how the drug could complement pandemic response and why it's not a substitute for vaccination. *Note: This podcast was recorded on October 6.