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According to master herbalist Stephen Buhner, the antiviral properties of elderberry bark and leaves are far more powerful that those of the berries. In Vermont where the plants are still dormant, now is the time to take cuttings, prune, and shave the bark off of some of the prunings, saving the smaller twigs, for making this potent anti-viral medicine --which is specific for SARS-like viruses like Corona virus. It's important to note that this tincture is PART of a larger protocol...that includes other herbs like licorice root, Japanese knotweed, and Chinese skullcap. (see link below).

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These are Buhner’s instructions for making the tincture which we followed, substituting bark and small twigs for the leaves:

"Boil four ounces of dried elder leaf (two ounces if fresh) in two quarts water until it is reduced by half. Cool, strain, then measure the amount of liquid left. To this add 25% pure grain alcohol. If your state will not allow you to buy pure grain alcohol (which is 95% alcohol) then after you cool and strain the liquid, put it in the pot again and reduce it once more by half. Let it cool again and then measure and add to it the same amount of 40% to 50% vodka, 50% is preferable. Hopefully, someone will begin making this commercially soon."

See Buhner’s paper describing the benefits of stem/bark and leaf below. For those worried about the potential toxicity of elder, don't worry--all potentially toxic elements within bark or leaves are destroyed with heat.

From  Stephen Buhner:

 regarding ELDERBERRIES: "The concern, with varying degrees of phytohysteria, is that it raises TNF-a, or that it stimulates cytokine upregulation, or that it will cause or enhance a cytokine storm. so . . . a) I don't like elderberry and i am not recommending it in this protocol, i am recommending elder LEAF or stem. b) elder leaf, stem, and berry are not the same things, they do not contain the same constituents, they do not act identically in the body. c) elder leaf is a th1/th2 modulator, that is it MODULATES cytokines, raising them if low, lowering them if high. d) HOWEVER, with elderberry there is some evidence that it raises TNF-a and TH1 cytokines, THERE IS SOME PROBLEM WITH THIS AS A BLANKET STATEMENT. I note in Herbal Antivirals that IN MICE who were infected with malaria, the use of sambucol, an elderberry extract, TNF-a increased, making the condition worse. Then i note that elderberry POSSIBLY stimulates TH1 cytokines. Another study found that in 12 healthy human volunteers sambucol did in fact increase TH1 cytokines, esp TNF-a. This could indeed be a problem . . . or it could not. e) In those studies elderberry was given to both mice and men AS A SINGLE HERB. It was not surrounded by other herbs in a complex protocol, and many of the other herbs are in fact potent cytokine normalizers. f) Again, the elder component is only 1/9 of the core protocol, see mathematical calculation on that above. It is tiny in comparison. f) I DO NOT LIKE ELDERBERRY as an herbal medicine and I NEVER recommend it; the protocol calls for elder leaf, a very different herb. g) and FINALLY, I would not under any circumstances suggest elderberry as a single use herb for treating the corona virus, as it could, WHEN USED BY ITSELF IN LARGE DOSES, increase TH1 which is not something to do with this organism. (And, please, do not take this last comment out of context, if you are going to send these comments around, please include all of it, not just this last comment devoid of context.)"

Please read Stephen Buhner’s full paper on his Coronavirus protocol: https://www.stephenharrodbuhner.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/coronavirus.txt.pdf