COVID is not over but some global health leaders are making preparing for the next pandemic a new priority

Is Covid Over? No, But Global Health Funders Are Moving On People in poorer countries are still waiting for vaccines, but the leaders of global health organizations have a new priority: preparing for the next pandemic. POLITICO

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As guests spoke, it became clear that the majority had concluded what so few were willing to say publicly in fear of retribution and because so many across the world have yet to receive the vaccine: It is time to move on from the emergency phase of the pandemic. Focus should go to shoring up billions of dollars in funding so that governments and global-health organizations can engage in massive efforts to prepare for the next pandemic, they said. ...

The discussion at the dinner was emblematic of a broader shift taking place inside the global health world — one that is pulling the messaging away from ending the Covid-19 pandemic to ramping up funding for the multi-year process of scaling up manufacturing capacity, upgrading surveillance systems and strengthening health for the next worldwide outbreak.

But not everyone has been on board with that approach. Over the last several weeks, leaders of the top global health organizations — those pushing to begin preparing for the next pandemic — and advocates for the people most vulnerable to new Covid variants have debated the direction of global health strategy. Advocates working to ramp up vaccinations worldwide have argued that although Covid-19 is now somewhat manageable for wealthy Western countries, populations in low- and middle-income countries are still struggling, and the more people hear about preparing for the next pandemic, the more likely it is they will forget the world is still dealing with the current one. ...