Who Has What? Omicron Raises Stakes for Quick Covid Sequencing

The omicron variant presents a new problem for doctors: Some drugs may work better than others, but knowing what to prescribe will hinge on quickly figuring out what variant of Covid-19 a person has in the first place.

Right now, doctors don’t treat Covid patients based on which mutation of the virus has infected them. Even when the information is available, doctors are rarely told which form of Covid a person has. That may need to change as new drugs emerge and as the virus evolves into versions that can render existing drugs less effective.

Early data suggest some drugs ...