The Turning Point

In the early years of COVID-19, Americans witnessed the intersection of a global pandemic, an economic collapse, and civil unrest that galvanized the country and the world and ushered in an era of unprecedented disruption. Three years later, we can begin to reflect on the experience of the pandemic and ask ourselves how the lessons of that experience can inform a healthier present and future. The Turning Point: Reflections on a Pandemic examines the first years of COVID-19 through the lens of population health, revealing a critical turning point in our engagement with key public health issues. Through a series of short, provocative essays, the authors leverage their experience as prominent public health leaders to untangle the social, economic, environmental, and political forces at work in our response to the pandemic. Combining cutting-edge data with philosophical insights, these bold and revelatory essays encourage us to broaden and sharpen our vision of health and renegotiate policies that can allow health to flourish in extraordinary-and ordinary-times.

Michael D. Stein is Professor and Chair of Health Law, Policy and Management of the School of Public Health at Boston University. He is primary care doctor and has been a leader in general medicine and substance use research and policy for decades. He is Executive Editor of Public Health Post, a popular website on matters of population health. He is the author of award-winning novels and works of non-fiction. He has been interviewed by Terry Gross on “Fresh Air” and has been included in Best American Essays Notables. Sandro Galea is Robert A Knox Professor and Dean of the School of Public Health at Boston University. He is a past president of the Society for Epidemiologic Research and of the Interdisciplinary Society for Population Health Science, past chair of the board of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Acknowledgments
Dedication
Preface
Section 1. LESSONS
1. From Theory to Practice2. Next Time, Testing First3. The Irreplaceable Public Sector4. Holding Our Breath5. The Challenge of Addressing Multiple Crises6. The Invisible Mental Health Burdens of a Pandemic7. Pandemics and Prisons8. The Necessity of Speaking with Care9. Health Behavior10. The Caring Infrastructure11. Does Today Matter More Than Tomorrow?12. Telling Different Stories with the Same Data13. How Our Expectations Shape Our Perceptions of Reality14. Can Contact Tracing Work Here?15. Prescription Against Worry
Section 2. STORY
16. Political Decisions and Science17. Should We Be More Upset By This?18. The Responsibility of Experts19. Defining Our Goalposts20. The Limits of Our Science21. The National Character22. The Right to Bear News23. The Story of COVID-1924. Why Did We Close Schools?25. The Limits of Our Tolerance26. Mismanaging Messages27. The Vaccination Glass Half Full
Section 3. ETHICS
28. Time for an Ethics Refresh?29. Who Goes First?30. What's Most Important?31. Achieving Health Equity, Efficiently32. The Long Shadow of Medical Racism33. Health Inequities Beyond COVID-1934. A Hard Weight35. Mandating Vaccines36. Leaving the World Behind37. Digital Surveillance38. Balancing Autonomy and Individual Responsibility39. Profits and Profiteering
Section 4. EMOTIONS
40. Grief and Loss41. Recognizing and Moving Beyond Our Collective Grief42. Epistemic Humility During a Global Pandemic43. The Selling of Vaccines44. Will We Stop Being Afraid?45. Hope Dies Last46. Can We Forget?47. The Centrality of Compassion48. False Confidence49. A Tale of Volition50. Trust and COVID-19
Section 5. THE FUTURE
51. The New Us?52. Who Decides?53. Fixing Our Health System After COVID-1954. HIV and COVID-1955. Guns and the Unanticipated Consequences of COVID-1956. Policies That Persist57. The Invisible Work of Public Health58. Will Better Public Health Funding Be Enough?59. Chronic COVID60. COVID-19 Collectivism61. Can We Be Led?62. COVID-19 and the Office63. A COVID-19 Poverty Surprise64. Is it Over Yet?65. Now What?
Sources