The Pandemic's Hard Lessons
We Cannot Prepare for the Next Crisis Without Facing the Failures of the Last One
This newsletter introduces a few essays on how the US—the federal government, state governments and private sector—responded to the Covid-19 pandemic. What we did right. Where we fell short. What we can learn from the ordeal. And how the lessons we learn could prepare us for the next crisis.
Big Story
Since early 2020, the world has been in the grips of a life-and-death struggle with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Covid-19 pandemic has dominated the world’s headlines for nearly two years. Over five million deaths. Millions more hospitalizations. Strained health care systems. Failed businesses. Lost jobs. Closed schools. Huge public debt. Untold human suffering. As life returns to some semblance of normal, the pandemic’s horrible toll will likely remain the big story.
Big Question
As we emerge from the pandemic’s grip, our attention could shift from surviving this crisis to preparing for the next one.
Many will invoke George Santayana’s famous quote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." And many will recall our nation’s initial fumbling pandemic response.
Leadership errors cost us dearly, but there were many other failures (and successes). Will we put aside our political biases and take stock of what worked and what did not?
The Big Idea
Apply the lessons of the pandemic to revamping our public health and health care systems.
The pandemic revealed much, both good and bad. The stunning development of effective vaccines and innovative treatments. The unpardonable flaws—political opportunism, mixed messaging, fragmented public health systems, overwhelmed health care providers and weak testing and contact tracing programs. Heeding these lessons will better prepare us for the next crisis.
Relevant Case Studies
Australia – after initial setbacks, mounted a strong pandemic response with low caseloads and quick re-openings; critical success factors included universal health care, a robust public health system, unified political leadership, effective testing, tracing and isolation programs and close collaboration with Indigenous Australians
Denmark – with a 95 percent vaccination rate for those over 50 and a 90 percent overall vaccination rate for eligible citizens (children under 12 not eligible), lifted all restrictions and earned a high Bloomberg Covid Resilience Ranking
Ireland – ranked highly by Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking, fully vaccinated over 90 percent of adults, dramatically reduced hospitalizations and experienced a relatively quick economic recovery (e.g., higher gross domestic product)
South Korea – spurred by its national health insurance system and several healthcare reforms, its impressive COVID-19 response included a hospital-based Covid centers network (testing to treatment), a robust testing program with ample test supplies, screening facilities and diagnostic labs, aggressive track-and-trace teams, a well-funded quarantine isolation program and clear public guidelines
US States – while state-based data is incomplete, three states have been lauded in a recent study by the University of California Berkeley's Othering and Belonging Institute—Vermont, Alaska and Maine—for their effective pandemic responses. Thus far, Vermont has the lowest per capita death rate and Maine the third lowest.
Other Views
Positioning America’s Public Health System for the Next Pandemic, Bipartisan Policy Center (6-29-21)
Preparing For The Next Pandemic: Guarding Against Anti-Science, Joshua Cohen, Forbes (11-1-21)
We’re Already Barreling Toward the Next Pandemic, Ed Yong, The Atlantic (9-29-21)
14 Lessons for the Next Pandemic, New York Times, Health and Science Desk (3-15-21)
How to Prevent the Next Pandemic, Scientific American, Seth Berkley (6-23-21)
Uncontrolled Spread, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former FDA commissioner (9-21)
Preventing the Next Pandemic, Dr. Peter Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine (3-21)
Premonition: A Pandemic Story, Michael Lewis (5-21)
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