Vaccines, Drugs: What Will Work Against COVID-19?

The names of several drugs have come up as possible treatments for the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, in consecutive press conferences by President Donald Trump.

There is a vaccine for the flu, so why isn't there one for the coronavirus?

Two similar drugs: chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, in combination with an antibiotic, commonly known as a "Z-Pack," have been mentioned. These two drugs are commonly used to treat malaria. The good news is they are relatively cheap to get. Yet, there are a lot of questions swirling around them.

Chloroquine itself is the oldest of the drugs, yet it has a very high number of bad side effects. Hydroxychloroquine has fewer side effects. But, are they effective?

Dr. Dean Blumberg, Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Children's Hospital answered some of those questions in a sit-down interview with KCRA 3: