With the last 2.5 years so fresh in our minds, it seems hard to believe that we will move past the deaths, the shutdowns, the mask mandates, the spikes in cases and variants and so much more the American public has endured. Sadly, history suggests otherwise.
In the 20th century we persevered through the 1918 influenza pandemic, developed a wide array of childhood vaccinations, and eradicated smallpox. But since then, we’ve had to deal with SARS, anthrax, avian flu, MERS, swine flu, Ebola, and Zika to name a few. Even beyond the newest strains of Covid-19, real-world current events such as the monkeypox outbreak and the Russian invasion of Ukraine remind us that public health threats can emerge at any time.
The lessons we have collectively learned inform our thinking about what works and what doesn’t and the necessity of being prepared for myriad public health threats. Fortunately, there are government officials, nongovernment leaders and private sector partners who think about and plan for such events each and every day – our team at Emergent being among them.
It is abundantly clear that we cannot simply fight the last battle or settle into complacency with the new normal. Now is the time for action to ensure that America is prepared for the next public health threat.
On this front, bipartisan and nonpartisan leadership has started to emerge…