Principles for Life After a Pandemic

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At the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, several public figures predicted that the pandemic would precipitate a dramatic shift towards new sets of values in our societies. Other more optimistic commenters prophesied a new dawn for egalitarian and progressive values (Adib-Moghaddam, 2020, Kelly, 2020, Nancy, 2020). This conjecture was drawn from the early belief that the SARS-CoV-2 virus would be impervious to differences in age, class, ethnicity, and nationhood: a 'great equaliser'. As statistics on death rates and hospitalisation rose, however, this optimism quickly came to be seen as misguided. Not only are some individuals more susceptible to the virus (ethnic minorities, senior citizens, those with pre-existing conditions), the non-medical measures designed to prevent populations from spreading the virus disproportionately affect other marginalised groups (such as those who have less income or education, etc.). When more information became available on the causes, exacerbating factors, and the prognosis of COVID-19 infection, some authorities tried to make medical outcomes more equitable. (1) In some counties, those most at risk from complications from the virus were often (although not always) given earlier treatment or vaccine priority. (2) Some policymakers initially recognised (or at least declared publicly) that disadvantaged communities and critical workers should be vaccinated first. (3) Globally speaking, the World Health Organization's COVAX scheme provided millions of vaccine doses to low-to-middle-income countries.