Yes, we were going to come out of this better, at least that’s what we were supposed to do. As on other occasions, that was too much to assume. We thought, or wanted to think, that after the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and everything that surrounded it, people would come out stronger, more aware of their own vulnerability and the need to work together for a more just world. Health is a certain right on the entire planet.
This social improvement was certainly not a logical consequence of the evolution of events. It was really hard to come out better when you weren’t better when it happened, just three or four years ago. The argument that “We won’t be safe until everyone is safe” was also deployed then – in several different versions – in reference to the need to ensure fair, equitable and universal access to vaccines and therapeutics. And it was a true argument, although obviously self-serving, since no one can be safe if there are people who can continue to get infected and infect others.
