COVID-19 Coronavirus

Many people around the world do not have accurate information about COVID-19 – specifically vaccine access. People have the right to unrestricted access to accurate and timely information so that they can make informed decisions about their health.

Even in the U.S., there is significant misinformation about the virus and vaccines. This rhetoric has been spurred by conspiracy theorists and people with a vested interest in distributing false stories. The Public Health Collaborative’s Misinformation Alerts are a great way to stay informed about the truth.

Funders can explore opportunities to combat misinformation by supporting public health campaigns aimed at changing policy and/or delivering accurate and accessible information.

The Joint Research Centre at the European Commission says research shows that, “information campaigns should present epidemiological evidence (the current status of the pandemic and the likelihood of future waves) through trusted channels and in a clear and understandable manner. Furthermore, policymakers should acknowledge the differences in beliefs and perceptions between sub-groups of the population (for example, as explained in the brief, between vaccinated and unvaccinated), and tailor their messages accordingly. Doing so helps challenge inaccurate perceptions created by targeted mis- and disinformation on such topics.”

There are significant concerns about the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines both in the U.S. and around the world. On an international level, this means continuing to support sufficient production and distribution of vaccines, supporting the medical infrastructure and building vaccine awareness. Help ensure vaccine confidence is built in communities and vaccine hesitancy is addressed to increase uptake.

While vaccine rates have improved in many countries, programs designed to prevent and limit transmission should continue to be prioritized, particularly in fragile countries and countries with weak health systems and infrastructure. Supporting a strong health system continues to be critically important. This includes ensuring adequate supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE), clean syringes and injection supplies, training for personnel and staffing needs.

Serious mental health needs emerged throughout the pandemic.

KFF, a health policy organization wrote, “The pandemic has affected the public’s mental health and well-being in a variety of ways, including through isolation and loneliness, job loss and financial instability, and illness and grief.” They also reported increased rates of suicide, depression, anxiety and substance misuse.

At the beginning of the pandemic, lockdowns created increased sedentary behaviors, affecting weight gain, mental health and a reduction in physical fitness.

During the pandemic, there was also a decrease in basic childhood vaccinations, especially in low and middle-income countries. Research showed that in the first three years, 67 million children missed at least one dose of a standard vaccine panel.

In the U.S., misinformation and vaccine hesitancy has meant childhood vaccinations have not achieved pre-pandemic levels. In fact, 10 states in 2024 have such high kindergartener vaccine exemption rates, that it is impossible for them to reach the Healthy People 2030 target of a 95% vaccination rate. This has resulted in increases in preventable, and in some cases, mostly eradicated diseases, including measles and polio. A 2023 study found that measles cases doubled between 2021 and 2022, while children paralyzed by polio increased 16%.

Funders can support organizations providing culturally appropriate access to mental health/physical health services for those of all ages. Additional support is needed for survivors of trauma from the pandemic and the layered traumas of other life circumstances exacerbated by the pandemic.

Additionally, services that help people find and access mental health and physical health resources, known as navigation services, and support for organizations providing mental health support and services to frontline healthcare workers to mitigate burnout also need support.

COVID-19 dramatically increased learning poverty, which “is defined as the percentage of 10-year-old children who cannot read and understand a simple story.”

World Bank data  “produced jointly with the UIS show that 53 percent of 10-year-old children in low- and middle-income countries cannot read and understand a simple story. In the poorest countries, the number is often close to 80 percent.”

At least 147 million children missed half their schooling between 2020 and 2022. Some students never went back, while many who returned to school did not learn enough to exceed the learning poverty markers. In 2022, learning poverty was highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, but rising fastest in South Asia, Latin American and Caribbean.

The pandemic rolled back gains under the Sustainable Development Goals for Education.  According to the World Bank, “Due to learning losses and increases in dropout rates, this generation of students stand to lose an estimated $10 trillion in earnings, or almost 10 percent of global GDP.”

The Education Outcomes Fund said that education has a “significant impact on eradicating extreme poverty. Education has been proven to improve economic opportunities, with each additional year of schooling typically raising an individual’s earnings by 8–10%. Adults who finish primary school with no learning earn only 6% more than those who didn’t attend at all. Comparatively, those who finish primary school and learn to read will earn 38% more than those with no schooling.”

This is not limited to schools globally; similar problems have arisen domestically.

A survey of 800 schools in 2022 found that: “The pandemic years have taken a dramatic toll on the nation’s public schools … affecting staffing, students’ behavior, attendance, nutrition, and mental health.”

• The socio-economic status (SES) achievement gap, already quite high in the U.S., increased due to COVID-19. Wealthier parents could provide increased support to children out of school, while those with lower incomes were not.
• Decreases in future earning potential were affected both by SES and by the age of the child, with younger students losing more potential income.
• Bigger educational losses were seen in math outcomes, compared to language.
• The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond found significant outcomes beyond educational losses, some of which have been mentioned elsewhere in the profile. These included “rising mental health concerns, lower levels of engagement, reports of violence against children, rising obesity, increases in teenage pregnancy, rising levels of chronic absenteeism and dropouts, and overall deficits in the development of socioemotional skills due to social isolation from networks and peers.”