Principles for Life After a Pandemic

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.