Based on findings from a new study by a Johns Hopkins Medicine-led research team, an effective means of fighting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may be possible that circumvents the problem of waning immunity often observed when current vaccines deal with emerging COVID variants. The method uses a small molecule inhibitor (a molecule approximately 1 nanometer in size that inhibits specific interactions between proteins) called RK-33 to block the virus’s ability to take over a host cell’s “genetic manufacturing plant” and make copies of itself.