Do any treatments reduce the risk of infection after you've been exposed to someone with COVID-19?

Answer:

There are currently no FDA authorized or approved drugs for post-exposure prevention of COVID-19 due to the Omicron variant. However, there are several drugs, including bebtelovimab, Lagevrio (molnupiravir), and Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir), that are authorized to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 if given early to certain patients (one of which is strongly recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO)), and one drug — remdesivir (Veklury) — that is approved for use in treating mild, moderate or severe COVID-19 in some individuals. There is also a monoclonal antibody therapy (EVUSHELD) for pre-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 in certain people. The FDA had previously authorized three other monoclonal antibody combination therapies — REGEN-COV (casirivimab plus imdevimab), bamlanivimab plus etesevimab, and sotrovimab — for treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 and (for REGEN-COV and bamlanivimab plus etesevimab) to help prevent infection in people exposed to someone with COVID-19, but these monoclonal antibody therapies are no longer authorized for use in any U.S. state.

Sign in as a member for more information about these drugs, including who can receive these treatments, when the treatments should be initiated to be effective, which of these treatments appear to be effective against Omicron variants, and what steps should be taken by people who experience COVID-19 rebound (i.e., "Paxlovid rebound") after antiviral treatment. Also find out how to locate in your area a "test to treat" pharmacy that can test people for COVID-19 and treat those who test positive.

ConsumerLab will update this article when and if other post-exposure prophylaxis treatments become available.