SARS-CoV-2 has kept evolving since it was first detected in 2019. Virus mutations
have affected transmissibility, virulence, and the effectiveness of vaccines and COVID-19
therapeutics. In Scotland, treatments recently made available for use in patients
with COVID-19 are sotrovimab, a neutralising monoclonal antibody that targets SARS-CoV-2
spike proteins, and SARS-CoV-2-specific antiviral drugs that inhibit viral replication.
The latter includes nirmatrelvir–ritonavir (Paxlovid, Pfizer), which inhibits viral
protease, and molnupiravir, which increases viral RNA mutagenesis.