Source: HFS Research, 2021<\/em><\/p>\nThe subscription of misinformation has translated into fights about masking in schools, retail outlets, public transport, and other locations where the public tend to congregate. Anti-vaccine advocates have come out in droves to protest the use of COVID-19 vaccines even though there is overwhelming evidence of their efficacy in preventing infection, severe illness, and deaths. In some parts of the world, there is even skepticism of the virus, suggesting that the pandemic is false and is essentially a conspiracy of the elites to continue to subjugate the oppressed.<\/p>\n
4. Try and treat humans across the world as equals<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nDiscrimination is an animal instinct; it is part of our DNA. It is the prime reason why birds of the same feather flock together, why a pride of lions doesn’t hang out with a troop of monkeys, or why humans tend to be parochial. Unlike other species, we have organized our discrimination such as that rendered by color being racism or by income, age, sex, etc. So, it has been a laudable endeavor to reduce and eliminate discrimination of all types by legislating and enforcing laws, educating children early, and more. <\/p>\n
Yet one of the major failings is that in our efforts to drive equality, we have ignored equity. Inequities prevent access to care including COVID-19 vaccines. Some 50% of the world has been fully vaccinated (not boosted) as of the end of January 2022. According to Bloomberg, the least wealthy countries have received just 6% of the vaccines while they represent 21% of the population. This is emblematic of inequities built into every aspect of how care is delivered globally.<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n5. Learn from our past mistakes to change our behaviors <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nWoodrow Wilson, America’s 28th President would not acknowledge the Spanish Flu of 1918 and did not take visible federal actions to deal with it. Fast forward to January 2019, Donald Trump, America’s 45th President would not acknowledge Covid-19 and resisted federal actions until early spring of 2019. And yes, both contracted the illness.<\/p>\n
Masking and social distancing were some of the tools used in 1918 as have we in against COVID-19. In late September 1918, Philadelphia would not cancel its Liberty Loan parade to pay for the war effort while an anti-mask league was formed in San Francisco in January 2019 to protest mask mandates as it was seen as unconstitutional limits to individual liberty. Similar behaviors have been exhibited during this current pandemic.<\/p>\n
There are many more such examples of our unwillingness to change behaviors to mitigate the current and next pandemic. Despite troves of data showing the correlation between social distancing, masking, and vaccinations to the prevention of infection, severe illness, and deaths, a material percentage of people choose to not learn from the past yet expect to thrive.<\/p>\n
The Bottom Line: Those that don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. <\/span><\/p>\nPandemics can be an existential threat, but they don’t have to be. We have over 100 years of data and experience to learn from. We have options to choose from yet, time and again we have made the same choices of not believing in the science, abdicating responsibilities, and being selfish. Pandemics have brought the worst amongst the best of us.<\/p>\n
Yet, there are examples of heroes amongst us, be it the nurse who put in 48 hours straight in a resource-constrained hospital to save tens’ if not more; teachers going and above to make virtual learning as engaging as in-person, employers making it is easier for employees to work from home. Pharma’s developing effective vaccines and medications in less than 12 months. We must learn from the litany of mistakes, evangelize good practices, emulate everyday heroes, and consciously drive change with better choices starting at home today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When it comes to pandemics, we seem not only to make the same mistakes but add in even more for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[876,853],"tags":[303],"ppma_author":[19,913],"yoast_head":"\n
Five Lessons Humans must Learn to Defeat Pandemics - Horses for Sources | No Boundaries<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n