The COVID-19 (coronavirus 2019) pandemic shifted the world in nearly every way – healthcare, workplace functions, restaurants, and entertainment. There are many lessons learned across multiple industries that we can keep in mind should another pandemic occur in the future. In this article, we will explore some of the valuable lessons we learned.
1. Masks are Beneficial1
The use of masks was one of the controversial topics during the height of the pandemic. Regardless of if you chose to follow the recommendations and wear a mask around others or not, you probably became more aware of how airborne viruses can spread from person to person. If you have an airborne virus, it makes sense that creating a barrier between you and someone else can prevent that spread.
With an increased understanding of the benefits of wearing masks during illness, you may choose to voluntarily use them in the future if you feel sick but still need to be in public spaces like the grocery store, doctor’s office, etc.
2. Telehealth Doctors Visits are Helpful
During the pandemic, virtual doctor visits for non-urgent appointments became normal. Multiple types of visits from mental health appointments to dieticians and follow-ups on chronic diseases were all performed online.
There were increased safety measures that had to be added to video conference platforms like Zoom to increase privacy and security of online conversations.1 Some of the features added include required passwords, a waiting room where you must approve people before they can enter the online meeting, the participants having limited use to screen sharing and unmuting without host permission.2
Telehealth visits continue to have benefits for people who may want more privacy than walking into a doctor’s office can provide. They also limit the need for transportation to get medical help.
Although virtual doctor’s visits sound convenient, some communities may have limited access to high-speed internet. If you don’t have access to the internet or a computer and a telehealth visit is your only option, it prevents your access to healthcare services.
Moving forward, as telehealth visits are incorporated into more visits, we will need to make sure that more people have access so they can utilize these services.
If you have internet access, ask your healthcare provider what services they offer as telehealth visits.
3. Vaccines are Powerful for Preventing Disease
COVID-19 vaccines were created rapidly during the pandemic. Some people were hesitant to use the vaccines because of how quickly they were created.
The vaccines showed effectiveness at reducing the risk of COVID-19 infection and reducing the mortality of people who became infected with the disease.3 There were some side effects for certain people who took vaccinations, although overall numbers show that side effects were mild compared to the benefits of immunizations.
Discussions around the development of COVID-19 vaccines, and conversations comparing the process used to develop these vaccines to the development of other vaccines, brought more attention to the process of vaccine creation and distribution overall.
These results should encourage people about the benefits of being and staying immunized across multiple diseases including COVID-19, pneumonia, strains of the flu, shingles, and more.
At your next doctor’s visit, ask them if you are up to date on all of your vaccinations.
References
- Yale Medicine (2021) 8 Lessons We Can Learn From the COVID-19 Pandemic https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/8-lessons-covid-19-pandemic
- American Behavioral Scientist (2023) Why Zoom Is Not Doomed Yet: Privacy and Security Crisis Response in the COVID-19 Pandemic https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9974380/#:~:text=New%20 features%20where%20add%20to,chat%20(Yuan%2C%20AEA9).
- Li Maochen et al. (2022) COVID-19 vaccine development: milestones, lessons ad prospects https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9062866/
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