- And we turn now to CBNNews medical reporter,

Lorie Johnson.

Lorie let's start with Merck'spetition to the FDA today

to issue this emergency use authorization

for its antivirus COVID treatment.

What does this drug doand what sets it apart

from other potential treatment options?

- Well, a lot of peoplecan understand what it does

if they look at the drug called Tamiflu.

Tamiflu is the same type of drug.

It's an antiviral pill andTamiflu is used to treat the flu,

not COVID, but this new drug

is just like what Tamiflu is to the flu.

And basically as an antiviral pill,

what it does is it stops the replication

of the virus in your body,

and so that's why it's really important

that you take the pill as soon as possible

after the onset of symptoms,

ideally within 24 hours,48, 72 hours possibly.

And so this is a great advancement.

Not only is Merck working ongetting this drug approved,

Roche and Pfizer arealso in late stage trials

with their antiviral pills.

So this will be a fantastic breakthrough

for the treatment of COVID.

It might be available assoon as the end of the year.

Until then there's already afantastic treatment available

to people and it's a monoclonal antibody

and it is 70% effective at resisting,

keeping people out of thehospital, I should say.

It's called Regeneron,and the only drawback

to some of the patientsis it is an infusion,

but it's very effective and it is free.

It's paid for by thegovernment and is FDA approved.

- These advancements in light of the fact

that we see hospitalizationsand death rates declining.

What should we anticipate right now

as the colder months approach?

- Well, it's really interestingbecause we have seen

a number of experts sayingthat we have actually

gone over that peak of the Delta variant

and we are now on the downside.

And so that's fantastic news.

And even Heather, some experts are saying

that this Delta surge is the last surge

we might see with the coronavirus.

Hallelujah!

Wouldn't that be great?

And they're saying that the coronavirus

is not going to be gone for good,

but it's going to be moreof instead of a pandemic,

an endemic, something that wesee come around every year.

So as far as what's going to happen

after we get over this Delta peak,

what's going to happen thiswinter, it remains to be seen.

You know, a lot of people are vaccinated.

A lot of people have natural immunity.

So unless you have natural immunity

and unless you're vaccinated,you still run that risk,

especially getting together with relatives

over the holidays, buthopefully we won't see

the terrible death toll that we saw

last January and February last winter.

- All right, Laurie.

And just briefly, Halloweenis around the corner.

Doctor Fauci is out talking about it,

saying it's okay forkids to trick or treat.

What are some of the best ways

to keep everyone safe around Halloween?

- Well, the key of courseis just stay outside.

So at my church, for example,

we have trunk or treat wherewe're in the parking lot,

so outside of the kids go from car to car.

Remember, kids make up one fourth

of all COVID infections these days,

so kids can still get itand are still getting it.

So best to keep the kidswho are not vaccinated

from these indoor settings

where they're allgrouped together closely.

- All right, makes sense.

CBN News medical reporter,Lorie Johnson, thanks.

- Thanks for having me.