Paxlovid reduces long-COVID risk, study finds

• It's another positive data point in the back-and-forth about Paxlovid, which has been shown to reduce hospitalizations but also raised concerns about its contribution to COVID rebound.

Be smart: The study published on the pre-print server medRxiv has not yet been peer-reviewed and will need to be independently replicated.

What they're saying: "Before this report, the only way we have known to reduce long COVID was to avoid a COVID infection," Eric Topol, executive vice president of Scripps Research, wrote in a blog post, adding there was also some reduction afforded by prior vaccination and boosters.

• "The new VA study adds a [third] way of reducing long COVID, no less important complications across multiple organ systems, and improved survival and avoidance of hospitalizations," he wrote.