The Pandemic: Globally
A year deep into a global pandemic, we all learned a lot more about the workings of the government and how countries around us operate. From Americans learning who Doctor Fauci is, to learning how countries have collectivist or individualist cultures, the pandemic has forced many to evaluate how our societies work.
One of the biggest issues around the world in the beginning of the pandemic was understanding the science behind everything. From learning how the virus spread, to whether masks were acceptable, even scientific findings were met with backlash. In America, a huge debate around this time last year was whether masks were really effective. Former President Donald Trump centered a lot of his language around the absurdity of masks and the general shutdown, claiming it was all an overreaction. This wasn’t solely an American debate, the uncertainty of such a novel pandemic left many questioning everything and nervous about the future.
However, other countries had different tactics. New Zealand and Australia both used lockdowns as their primary strategy when fighting the virus, implementing lockdowns as soon as new cases were reported. As new cases spiked, communities went into strict quarantines that prioritized the overall health of their people. Their vigilant work has served them well, as both countries' daily cases are in the single numbers.
Even vaccine distribution has been handled differently across various international zones. European countries have been struggling to efficiently distribute vaccines. Some countries, like Italy, actually saw an increase in their case numbers. In our own state of California, recent studies have found that distribution has been highly unequal, where a report from the Centers for Disease Control showed that the poorest and most vulnerable communities in California are not receiving a sufficient amount of vaccines: the same population that is at the highest risk of contracting COVID-19 due to low access to healthcare.
Looking back now, we must realize where we made mistakes. Despite political beliefs and parties, there is not denying the past year was challenging for all of us. As we move forward, the world should look to use this event as a learning moment, a time where we all learned more about the people around us and l how socioeconomic differences have immense implications. We owe it to the many innocent lives lost during this crisis to work to make this world a better place, preventing any further catastrophes from occurring when we can stop them.
