First, it’s important to note that while these issues are more front and center in the United States, it’s a problem around the world and is causing this pandemic to go on for longer than it needs to. So while we have to combat it globally, in the US we’re seeing the results of our failure to engage with local communities early on. Community engagement is critical to fighting misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines.

Through community engagement, trusted messengers educate the public to promote measures that prevent and control viral spread. For example, local faith-based organizations or community centers can be leveraged and given the tools to educate the people they serve. Community engagement provides clear science-based communications that address cultural barriers, like language, and help people understand why it’s important to, for example, wear a mask. It meets people where they are. In the US, we’ve used community education to increase vaccination rates, but we didn’t use it early in the pandemic, which is one reason why there was so much bad information.

A lot needs to happen in the occupational work space to create healthier, safer environments—independent of COVID-19. But COVID-19 emphasized the importance of good ventilation and air quality. It’s also important for companies to infuse education into the workplace. Today we’re dealing with COVID-19, but we deal with so many other things every year, like seasonal flu and severe storms. So companies need an all-hazards approach that protects their workforce. It’s important to recognize that businesses function best when their employees are healthy and safe. That means providing resources like paid sick leave or the ability to work from home when necessary.

It has impacted everything from the way we interact with each other to how we look at other infectious diseases. For example, it’s had a significant impact on tuberculosis. Data shows that, with so many resources going toward COVID-19 and less attention paid to other diseases, 1.2 million fewer people were diagnosed with and treated for TB in 2021 compared to 2019. That’s a huge issue because TB kills about 4,000 people a day around the world. Looking generally at vaccine-preventable infectious diseases, COVID-19 put our progress back at least a decade and we’re seeing a record low number of routine vaccination rates worldwide. It’s also had a huge impact on mental health. And then there’s long COVID itself. Data shows that at least one in three people infected with COVID-19 suffer long-term consequences. We don’t yet know how long those symptoms will last. There’s a lot we still don’t know, but we’re learning more every day.

We’ve made progress. In the US, the Biden administration set a goal of developing a vaccine in response to the next threat within 100 days and then being able to deliver that vaccine in another 100 days. The administration also invested US$65 billion, which really is a down payment, in looking at how to prevent future pandemics. Things like this can help us better prepare. But at the end of the day, two things can continue to undermine everything we do in terms of future emergencies. One is people’s behavior—what they do to protect themselves and their neighbors. You can’t accomplish anything without investing more in people, which gets back to the need for community engagement. The second is political leadership. In the US, any federal administration isn’t around for more than eight years. If the next administration doesn’t care about science or pandemic preparedness, any gains we’ve made will go down the drain. So when we elect our leaders—tomorrow, 20 or 100 years from now, we need to choose people who will sustain our progress.