Harvard University Professor Arthur Scheslinger, Jr. served as a special assistant and “court historian” to President John Kennedy until the latter’s death in November 1963. Two years later, his book “A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House” was published. Around that same time, when interviewed he was asked to assess the impact of the Kennedy presidency. He easily could have stated that it still is too soon to offer a complete assessment, but instead he indicated that it was best to characterize the situation as a quasi-categorical demurral.
While recognizing it may be highly unlikely that many individuals would express their views in this kind of parlance, for the sake of argument let’s assume for the purpose of the following brief disquisition that the professor’s use of this terminology can be applied constructively to COVID-19 and its imagined aftermath. As indicated by an article on page five of this issue of TRENDS, more than 100,000 scientific publications already have been published about the coronavirus, but until it runs its final course, presumably any satisfying definitive analysis will have to remain a work in progress for the nonce.
The purported necessity of closing down a major portion of the U.S. economy, the largest in the world, is a topic that undoubtedly will attract considerable attention. One aspect certainly will include whether deleterious health impacts, such as increases in child/intimate partner abuse, alcohol/drug substance use/abuse, suicidal ideation, homelessness, and lost educational opportunities for students ultimately proved to be more devastating than COVID-19 itself.
Closer to home regarding the academic community, some insights are provided by an editorial published in the August 29, 2020 issue of the British medical journal The Lancet. For example, the pandemic is undermining the ability of researchers to do their jobs and of universities to provide a high-quality and safe educational experience for students. Moreover, the pandemic will have complex, unexpected, and long-term implications for research that must be anticipated now. Essential pillars are under threat, such as a workforce with the skills, training, experience, relationships, and networks needed for research excellence; necessary resources, including funding; and multidisciplinary perspectives supported by science. Spending on education and research is threatened by economic downturns with academic budgets squeezed by COVID-19, jeopardizing jobs and research funding.
An effective vaccine soon may become available. According to information appearing in the August 29-September 4, 2020 issue of The Economist, the pollster YouGov reveals that only 37% of Republicans and 61% of Democrats say they would be vaccinated for COVID-19. The figure is barely 30% for middle-aged and less-educated individuals on the right end of the political spectrum. Not only in the U.S., but among other nations “anti-vaxx” sentiments have many followers who are even more distrustful about vaccine safety and effectiveness than U.S. residents. Hence, while there is value in looking ahead to a time when this coronavirus disappears, it essentially remains much too soon to understand its full impact.
More September 2020 TRENDS Articles
A QUASI-CATEGORICAL DEMURRAL
indicates that it is too soon to understand the full implications and overall impact of COVID-19. Read More
WHISTLING THE COLLEGE HORNPIPE
contains information about advantages the federal government possesses in developing financial responses to the coronavirus pandemic. Read More
HEALTH REFORM DEVELOPMENTS
Points out how despite a decline in poverty rates, the ability to access health care remains difficult for some population subgroups while at the same time insufficient attention is paid by policymakers regarding the adequacy of the health workforce. Read More
DEVELOPMENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Describes how once again reauthorization of the Higher Education Act failed to occur; the issuance of final regulations for distance education and innovation; and how the U.S. Department of Education is rescinding several guidance documents. Read More
QUICK STAT (SHORT, TIMELY, AND TOPICAL)
Delaying Or Avoiding Health Care During The Pandemic Because Of Concerns About COVID-19
Trends And Patterns In Menarche In The United States: 1995 Through 2013–2017
Machine Learning Maps Research Needs In Coronavirus Literature
Rapid Blood Test Could Detect Brain Injury In Minutes Read More
AVAILABLE RESOURCES ACCESSIBLE ELECTRONICALLY
Scorecard On State Health System Performance
Racial Disparities In Cancer
The State of Obesity 2020: Better Policies For A Healthier America Read More
COMPOSITION AND CAPACITY OF THE GENETICS WORKFORCE
discusses how the clinical genetics workforce likely will face greatly increased demand for its services. Read More
THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF SOCIAL DISTANCE
refers to the neurocognitive basis of social isolation and its deep consequences for mental and physical health, along with neurobiological mechanisms underlying social interplay and the impact that social deprivation has on them. Read More