Prepared By: Tracy C. Shields, MSIS, AHIP (Ms.; she/her) 

Naval Medical Center Portsmouth; Library Services, Reference Medical Librarian

Purpose: These reports are curated collections of current research, special reports, and news regarding the COVID-19 pandemic that may be of interest to medical providers, leadership, and decision makers. 

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. This document is current as of the date noted above. While I make every effort to find and summarize available data, I cannot cover everything in the literature on COVID-19. Due to the rapid evolution of the literature, I will not update past reports when new information arises; for retracted papers specific to COVID-19, see the list of retracted papers from Retraction Watch.

An End Has a Start

Reflecting on the NMCP COVID-19 Literature Reports

The novel coronavirus cases caught my attention early. On 21 January 2020, I asked my fellow medical librarian colleagues on social media about it: "#medlibs: Do you pull together resources (articles, websites, etc) for your patrons on emerging or newsworthy medical topics? For example, new coronovirus [sic] outbreak in China, major new studies. Do you have demand for that sort of thing?"

Only a few people responded and no one really discussed it. Still, my gut told me there was something there, so I set up some literature alerts and kept an eye out for notable news items. In my role as a medical librarian, I had done something similar for 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the 2015 Zika virus outbreak, and other health threats. I assumed it would be more for my personal interest and maybe a few providers might ask for information.

Soon after the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on 11 March 2020, the library's immediate leadership approached me about putting together something that could be disseminated to leaders and decision makers. My initial interest and monitoring morphed into these reports; it was a relatively easy transition.

The first report went out on Tuesday, 31 March 2020 and was only 8 pages (which seemed ridiculously long at the time). Already there were over 165,000 cases of COVID-19 in the United States and the pandemic was barely underway. I thought I would do these reports for a short time — maybe a few months at best — and we would adjust to a new "normal". I was too optimistic by far, even in my pessimism. The reports would span weeks, then months, then years.

Now, two and half years later, this is the last NMCP COVID-19 Literature Report. I compiled the reports, sent to my leadership, and really never knew if anyone read them, if they mattered or made a difference. I kept at it though, and in doing so became an "expert" at covid literature. There are things I wish I didn't know about this disease and pandemic, things I wish I had never seen or read, and so many things I wish had been done differently.

In many ways ending this project is a relief, but it is also bittersweet. This project has consumed untold hours of my professional life and given me a front-row seat to documenting the covid pandemic. It has been a depressing yet invigorating learning experience. It's time I focused on other efforts.

The covid pandemic continues as there are new, emerging, and ongoing threats to public health: monkeypox; polio; Langya virus; climate change and its impact on human health and infectious diseases. I will monitor those events as well — and hope there will not be a need for another set of reports like these.

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