Opinion | Is the pandemic ‘over’ in your country? In the rest of the world, it isn’t

The early days of the pandemic were dominated by a chorus of ‘we are all in this together’, but that ended when successful vaccines were approved

As uneven roll-outs continue, we now stand at an important crossroads. Do we continue to prioritise stock markets over food banks, and passports over humanity?

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Published: 3:30am, 2 Jul 2021Updated: 3:30am, 2 Jul 2021

With the (highly uneven) roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines around the world, many, at least in those few countries with an adequate vaccine supply, have already begun rejoicing that the pandemic is over. They have “moved on” and are, for better or worse, returning to their “normal” ways of life.

At the same time, other countries are experiencing new peaks, there are new worrisome variants being identified, and thousands continue to die while hundreds of thousands continue to be infected every single day. The inequalities are striking.

From the outset, it is important to distinguish the question of whether the virus has been brought under control from the question of whether we should be celebrating the end of the pandemic. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is a contagious, highly infectious agent responsible for case counts and death tolls. It is a medical and scientific issue.

The Covid-19 pandemic, however, is a socially determined classification for just what level of disease will be deemed acceptable, and what social measures will be taken to prevent the spread of a virus. It is a social, cultural, economic and political issue. If that distinction wasn’t clear before, the roll-out of vaccines has certainly made it so.

The first question – whether the virus is being brought under control by the arrival of vaccines – depends entirely on where you are and who you are.

The pre-vaccine days of the pandemic were dominated by a global chorus of “we are all in this together”, a chant that quickly ended as soon as the first successful vaccines were approved and it was realised that decisions had to be made about who would be prioritised for first doses.