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1.Introduction As the Coronavirus-disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic enters its third year, the ongoing health crisis has affected every aspect of the healthcare system worldwide.

1. Introduction
   As the Coronavirus-disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic enters its third year, the ongoing health crisis has affected every aspect of the healthcare system worldwide. First reported in December 2019 in China, SARS-CoV-2, which stands for “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2”, quickly spread to other countries, leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare COVID-19 a worldwide pandemic in March 2020. Since then, SARS-CoV-2 infection rates have increased exponentially, on a worldwide scale, with most countries experiencing severe outbreaks in multiple waves. As of 15 July 2022, there have been over 556,000,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, and almost 6,350,000 deaths reported to the WHO, making the COVID-19 pandemic one of the deadliest pandemics in history [1]. The multiple waves of the pandemic were successfully modelled by Kaxiras et al., into a series of epidemic waves (subepidemics) throughout various countries [2]. Certain countries, such as Italy and Portugal, which implemented early strict preventative measures, have shown decreasing peak intensities in subsequent waves. The declining epidemic waves of Italy and Portugal are contrasted with other countries, such as Sweden, which did not impose precautionary measures and have shown epidemic waves increasing in peak intensities in each subsequent subepidemic, highlighting the importance of the early imposition of strict preventative measures to mitigate infection rates in following waves [2]. The need for rapid, stringent public health measures is further stressed by novel variants, such as the Omicron variant, which are shown to be much more transmissible than the wild-type strain, a factor not foreseen by Kaxiras et al. A Chinese modelling study by Cai et al. [3] on Omicron subepidemics, despite China having some of the strictest preventative measures worldwide in pre-Omicron waves, modelled the potentially harsh impact of Omicron on the Chinese healthcare system [3]. Various mitigation strategies, categorized into different scenarios, show that public health measures, such as school and workplace closures, even in the presence of a booster vaccine campaign, were not able to mitigate the impacts of Omicron on the Chinese healthcare system; the peak demand for ICU beds is projected to exceed the maximum capacity in all scenarios simulated. Cai et al. [3] further concluded that there is a need to combine public health measures with increasing vaccine coverage in the elderly and the widespread use of approved antivirals to prevent overwhelming the healthcare system.

Given the importance of public health measures to slow the spread of disease, initial widespread preventative measures, such as lockdown, social distancing, quarantining, and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) mask wearing, were implemented as affected countries attempted to contain SARS-CoV-2 infection rates. In addition to non-pharmaceutical measures of COVID-19 prevention, COVID-19 vaccines, such as the mRNA-based BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 vaccines, were introduced in December 2020 as a highly effective method of prevention and have been widely approved, distributed, and administered as primary prophylaxis against SARS-CoV-2. As of 15 July 2022, over 12,130,000,000 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide [1]. Despite these measures, SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks have continued to occur due to the emergence of novel variants of concern (VOCs), with specific sets of mutations able to increase their infectivity and escape immune response [4]. Additionally, SARS-CoV-2 immunity from vaccination and natural infection is expected to wane over time, allowing milder infections to occur but still providing adequate protection against severe disease [5,6]. We will further discuss these issues in this review. In sum, COVID-19 is expected to be present for the foreseeable future, transitioning into an endemic phase [7].

Given the continuous presence of SARS-CoV-2, it is important to discuss patient populations vulnerable to severe COVID-19 (sCOVID-19), defined as cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) [8]. There is evidence to suggest the risk of COVID-19 being particularly high in cancer patients, especially in lung cancer (LC) patients. Patients with LC are associated with higher rates of mortality when infected with COVID-19 compared to other solid cancers [9,10,11]. This review aims to provide an overview of pathophysiological associations between LC and COVID-19. Additionally, the main risk factors to consider that increase the likelihood of sCOVID-19 in LC patients, as well as the impact of COVID-19 on LC screening, diagnosis, and treatment will be discussed. To minimize sCOVID-19 outcomes in LC patients, it is equally important to review the current treatments available for mild to moderate COVID-19 (mCOVID19), most notably the novel oral antivirals paxlovid and molnupiravir

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