Posted on Dec 19, 2023
A new normal? 6 stories about the evolving U.S. COVID response in 2023
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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/12/19/ [login to see] /a-new-normal-6-stories-about-the-evolving-u-s-covid-response-in-2023
In spring 2023, COVID hospitalizations and deaths hit their lowest levels since the start of the pandemic. Masks came off and schools and some workplaces were back in person. The nation emerged from the three-year COVID nightmare – and entered a tentative, new normal.
And with the official end of the federal public health emergency in May, the U.S. health care system reverted to the way it usually works: People's health insurance, or lack of it, once again dictates their access to COVID-related tests, vaccines and soon – in 2024 – to treatments.
"Our health care system has well-known and documented disparities," says Dr. Mandy Cohen, who took the helm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in July. "So when we go back to the 'normal course of business,' it doesn't make for the equitable distribution of things."
In spring 2023, COVID hospitalizations and deaths hit their lowest levels since the start of the pandemic. Masks came off and schools and some workplaces were back in person. The nation emerged from the three-year COVID nightmare – and entered a tentative, new normal.
And with the official end of the federal public health emergency in May, the U.S. health care system reverted to the way it usually works: People's health insurance, or lack of it, once again dictates their access to COVID-related tests, vaccines and soon – in 2024 – to treatments.
"Our health care system has well-known and documented disparities," says Dr. Mandy Cohen, who took the helm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in July. "So when we go back to the 'normal course of business,' it doesn't make for the equitable distribution of things."
A new normal? 6 stories about the evolving U.S. COVID response in 2023
Posted from npr.org
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."The nation's other health problems grew during the pandemic
It wasn't just COVID – the data came in this year showing how the pandemic exacerbated other public health and medical problems. For many, mental health suffered and people turned to drugs and hard drinking to cope with grief and isolation. Children missed recommended vaccines. Obesity rates rose. The U.S. population emerged from the public health emergency with a shorter life expectancy than before – indicating that the health of the nation faces a long recovery.
A worker inspects disposable gloves at a factory in Malaysia, a country that has been the top supplier of medical gloves to the U. S. and which is facing increasing competition from China.
MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images
We didn't learn our lesson about PPE
Who's thinking about the next pandemic? A few dedicated public health professionals are fighting to make permanent changes they say would help make the nation more prepared for the next major threat. But in the boom-and-bust cycle of funding for public health, the nation's post-emergency interest is on the downswing. One legacy is a U.S. landscape littered with empty rubber glove factories, which received more than $290 million in public funds to bolster the supply chain for personal protective equipment, only to be left half-built in the lurch."
..."The nation's other health problems grew during the pandemic
It wasn't just COVID – the data came in this year showing how the pandemic exacerbated other public health and medical problems. For many, mental health suffered and people turned to drugs and hard drinking to cope with grief and isolation. Children missed recommended vaccines. Obesity rates rose. The U.S. population emerged from the public health emergency with a shorter life expectancy than before – indicating that the health of the nation faces a long recovery.
A worker inspects disposable gloves at a factory in Malaysia, a country that has been the top supplier of medical gloves to the U. S. and which is facing increasing competition from China.
MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images
We didn't learn our lesson about PPE
Who's thinking about the next pandemic? A few dedicated public health professionals are fighting to make permanent changes they say would help make the nation more prepared for the next major threat. But in the boom-and-bust cycle of funding for public health, the nation's post-emergency interest is on the downswing. One legacy is a U.S. landscape littered with empty rubber glove factories, which received more than $290 million in public funds to bolster the supply chain for personal protective equipment, only to be left half-built in the lurch."
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