Hindsight is 2020? Lessons in global health governance one year into the pandemic

Fourteen months into the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, we identify key lessons in the global and national responses to the pandemic. The World Health Organization has played a pivotal technical, normative and coordinating role, but has been constrained by its lack of authority over sovereign member states. Many governments also mistakenly attempted to manage COVID-19 like influenza, resulting in repeated lockdowns, high excess morbidity and mortality, and poor economic recovery. Despite the incredible speed of the development and approval of effective and safe vaccines, the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants means that all countries will have to rely on a globally coordinated public health effort for several years to defeat this pandemic. Global coordination of public health efforts will be needed to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic and to prepare for future public health emergencies.

Automated summary

Lessons learned from the global and national responses to the COVID-19 pandemic include limitations of the World Health Organization's coordinating role, government mistakes in managing the pandemic, and challenges in vaccine distribution and economic recovery. Global coordination of public health efforts will be essential to overcome the pandemic and prepare for future emergencies.