Nadezhda Shvedova

• Affiliation: Institute for the U.S. and Canadian Studies, RAS
  
• Address: Russian Federation, Moscow

American experts claim that "COVID is not defeated" in the United States. They are convinced that the positive lessons of the pandemic, such as the “unprecedented acceleration, high efficacy and safety of the first vaccines”, which became available “only 10 months after the first virus sequencing”, all this represents a “model” for moving forward. “We can’t be so stupid as not to learn from our pandemic past,” is the call to American society.

U.S. experts consider the COVID-19 pandemic a "catalyst for action" as it has shown "too clearly" the enormous impact and has clearly shown "the cost of the country's collapsing public health infrastructure" that is detrimental to both the health of the American people and their economic well-being. There is a near-unanimous belief that the next public health emergency is imminent, which should spur policymakers to “break the pattern of neglect and prioritize modern public health data collection capabilities, human resources, preparedness, and effective messaging strategies.” This would mean learning from the lessons and willingness to "build on the progress made over the past two years."

A review of the evolution of the U.S. healthcare system during the coronavirus pandemic crisis (socio-economic and socio-political essence) convinces us that the experience of the pandemic in the USA points to the need for a healthcare system that values resilience over fragile efficiency and information system. It must be built on the principles of non-discrimination, addressing the health inequalities stemming from its history. The national public health system is developing in the context of an international one, therefore, the restoration of its international alliances, its system of social protection and trust in experience seems to be objectively determined.

The pandemic in the American society and its impact on the functioning of the most important sector of socio-economic life – the protection of the health of the country's population – given the incompleteness of the pandemic phenomenon, no doubt, will excite the American society and political circles because of its acute topicality in the situation of political election campaigns, in in particular, clashes in the 2022 midterm elections.