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| An experimental drug prevented half of COVID-19 infections that would have otherwise sent people to the hospital, according to a study released Friday, offering promise that the virus could soon be treated by a pill. |
| The antiviral drug molnupiravir, made by Merck & Co. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics of Miami, was given to 385 people within five days of their COVID-19 diagnosis. Another 377 volunteers who tested positive were given a placebo. |
| Of the participants who received molnupiravir, 28 of them, or 7.3%, were hospitalized during the month-long trial. In the placebo group, 53 people – or 14% – were hospitalized and eight of them died. Read more here. |
| It's Friday, and this is Coronavirus Watch from the USA TODAY Network. Here's more news you need to know. |
| • | Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh has tested positive for COVID-19 just days before the justices were set to return to the courtroom to begin a new term, the court announced Friday. | | • | The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose for the third straight week. Claims rose unexpectedly by 11,000 last week to 362,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Applications for unemployment topped 900,000 in early January. | | • | Just 15 of Africa's 54 countries have reached the global target of fully vaccinating 10% of their population by the end of this month, the World Health Organization said. | | • | The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday offered a first glimpse of the COVID-19 protocols that will be in place at the upcoming 2022 Winter Games in Beijing – including lengthy quarantines for unvaccinated participants, daily COVID-19 testing and the absence of international spectators. | | • | Americans are getting vaccinated at the lowest rates yet this year, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The U.S. is giving first-dose COVID-19 vaccinations to fewer than 1.5 million people each week, down from a peak of nearly 14 million in mid-April. | |
 | | SOURCE Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | | Janie Haseman, USA TODAY | |
| Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 43.4 million COVID-19 cases and 697,900 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 233.9 million cases and more than 4.7 million deaths. About 64% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 56% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Among U.S. adults, 77% have received at least one shot, and about 67% are fully vaccinated. |
| Tracking the pandemic: See the numbers in your area here. See where cases are rising here. See vaccination rates here. And here, compare vaccinations rates worldwide and see which countries are using which vaccines. |
| – Grace Hauck, USA TODAY breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck |
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