The normalization of Covid reinfections has made talking about the pandemic, or, God forbid, taking precautions, feel like a social taboo, making it increasingly difficult to expect or ask for any level of mitigations in work and social settings. As Julia Doubleday wrote in her excellent Substack post in December, “The political project of normalizing transmitting COVID and casting basic, scientific mitigations as bad, weird, mean, stupid, and impossible is a fantastic coup for the right.”
In 2024, there must be more pressure on Democrats to support commonsense public health measures to prevent Covid and the future wave of zoonotic diseases that are likely to be unleashed by climate change. If the left wants to win, this election year and beyond, they need to set themselves apart from Republicans in their stance on Covid, modeling themselves as supporters of science and public health. It is not only a public health issue but a class issue, with ramifications for health care at large and the overall well-being of society. It has been disheartening to see even the most progressive members of Congress fail to speak out on behalf of those suffering from long Covid, especially when its impacts are so closely related to economic, social, and racial justice.
Democrats could model commonsense Covid precautions and champion some of the positive—and popular—policies that accompanied the early pandemic, such as mandated sick pay, which wouldn’t force workers into the difficult position of working while sick and transmitting Covid or losing pay or even their jobs. Such issues are compounded for uninsured, underinsured, low-income workers and people of color, particularly as the cost of living rises and medical expenses increase.