Presents a brief overview of the eight COVID-19 editorials published in DMPHP over the past year and using them as a framework to follow the evolution of the Pandemic over time. A review of the salient epidemiological and clinical dimensions of COVID-19 over time is given as well as a discussion of the medical and public health impacts of the disease and the interventions and policies put in place to contain and mediate the virus.
The concluding discussion questions the validity of the criteria used in selection of priority groups for vaccination in the US and notes that had a uniform program supporting the immunization of all over age 65 (accounting for 80% of COVID-19 deaths), the most lives would be spared while simultaneously cutting across all socio-economic and ethnic groups. Continuing this line of reasoning globally would provide an opportunity for the US to reburnish its humanitarian image through a vaccine diplomacy initiative with a goal to vaccinate the over 65 of every nation. To date, almost 500 million doses of vaccine have been administered; had they been targeted to the over 65 global population of some700 million, we would be well on our way to a return to the old normal.
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Journal
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness