The COVID-19 pandemic has been met by unequal
responses in different countries and led to unequal
impacts, with populations in Europe, the USA, and
Latin America disproportionately impacted.3
Science
has uncovered much about SARS-CoV-2 and made
extraordinary and unprecedented progress on the
development of COVID-19 vaccines, but there is still
great uncertainty as the pandemic continues to evolve.
COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out in many
countries, but this does not mean the crisis is close to
being resolved. We are simply moving to a new phase of
the pandemic.
What emerges next will partly depend on the ongoing
evolution of SARS-CoV-2, on the behaviour of citizens,
on governments’ decisions about how to respond to
the pandemic, on progress in vaccine development and
treatments and also in a broader range of disciplines
in the sciences and humanities that focus both on
bringing this pandemic to an end and learning how
to reduce the impacts of future zoonoses, and on the
extent to which the international community can stand
together in its efforts to control COVID-19. Vaccines
alone, unless they achieve high population coverage,
offer long-lasting protection, and are effective in
preventing both SARS-CoV-2 transmission and
COVID-19, will not end the pandemic or allow the world
to return to “business as usual”. Until high levels of
global vaccine-mediated protection are achieved across
the world, it could be catastrophic if measures such as
mask wearing, physical distancing, and hand hygiene
are relaxed prematurely.
Countries, communities, and
individuals must be prepared to cope in the longerterm with both the demands and the consequences of
living with such essential containment and prevention
measures.
Source : Lancet