“How epidemiology has shaped the COVID pandemic” is an article that was published on January 27, 2021, in the Nature online magazine. In the article, the authors discuss how the first and the following clinical trials and scientists’ assumptions impacted the spread of the COVID-19 virus and changed the reaction strategies of governments worldwide (“How epidemiology has shaped,” 2021). This paper aims to discuss how COVID-19 epidemiology is a great example of the cooperation potential in the work of social, healthcare, and political professionals.
Most importantly, the article reminds us how the decision to make people start wearing masks was made based on the scientific recommendations that later proved to be valid after the observational epidemiological trials during the following months. Importantly, in this case, the scholars did not need to specifically gather the participants, since the virus was spreading in real-life conditions. The decision to start separating people through the lockdowns also first came as an assumption, and then was proven in practice.
Nurses all over the world were eagerly waiting for new scientific discoveries. These discoveries followed later in 2021 when the first vaccine was developed for the first variants of the virus. The vaccination campaign allowed to stop the spread of the virus, and nurses worked closely together with the scientists, doing their best to deliver the doses to the population in time and ensure the maximal coverage of the population by vaccines. Many intervention studies were held afterward to test the vaccines (Shanet, 2022). Today, further clinical trials are required to prevent the spread of new types of the virus.
Thus, it was discussed, how the COVID-19 epidemiology is a great example of the cooperation potential of the society. The further discussion can feature the topics of whether it was ethical to test the vaccines on volunteers, how the politicians, scientists, and healthcare practitioners can better cooperate in the future, and what main mistakes were made in facing the challenges brought by the virus. The potential of epidemiology in stopping epidemics should also be discussed in wider circles.
References
How epidemiology has shaped the COVID pandemic. (2021). Nature.
Shanet, S. (2022). News Medical Life Science.