Five Years of COVID-19: Lessons Learned and Future Pandemic Preparedness
International Response
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic, and more than 7 million people have since died from COVID-19. The virus and public health measures have had far-reaching effects on societies worldwide.
Five years on, the virus continues to circulate, but thanks to vaccines and immunity acquired from infections, hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID are vastly less frequent than in previous years. Meanwhile, long COVID continues to have a major impact on people’s lives, with estimates suggesting more than 400 million people around the world have had or are currently living with long COVID.
At this point, Australia and the world must take the lessons of COVID – in areas from surveillance to outbreak response, to vaccines and therapeutics – to be better prepared for the next pandemic.
Some Areas We Went Right – and Wrong
Our diagnostic laboratories across Australia were well prepared. Laboratories at the Doherty Institute diagnosed the first case of COVID in Australia and were the first to isolate and share the virus globally in early 2020.
At the same time, a national public health response was quickly put in place, involving measures such as closing borders, setting up testing centers, and limiting gatherings. However, there were challenges with sharing data, biological samples, and the ingredients for COVID tests between the different states and territories.
One recommendation from an independent review of the federal government’s COVID response was to establish an Australian Centre for Disease Control. An interim version was launched in early 2024, and the Australian government is investing A$251.7 million in this important initiative.
The goal for the new center for disease control will be to provide independent technical advice on infectious diseases to government and facilitate rapid integration of data from all states and territories, leading to a more unified response.
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Harnessing Medical Technologies
Relatively recent technological advances in both diagnostics (RAT tests) and vaccine development (the use of messenger RNA) have put us in a strong position to be at the cutting edge in any pandemic response.
Moderna, one of the two companies that pioneered the mRNA vaccines, has established its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Melbourne. CSL, which made the AstraZeneca COVID vaccines in Australia and manufactures several other vaccines, has now incorporated mRNA in its repertoire.
This capability means Australians could have immediate access to mRNA vaccines in the event of another pandemic, and we could potentially manufacture these vaccines for low- and middle-income countries in our region.
Preparing for the Next Pandemic
As COVID was (partly due to advances in technology) the most intensively studied pandemic in human history, we have a unique resource in the record of what happened to inform our response to any future pandemic.
And this is likely a matter of when, not if. New infectious disease outbreaks have continued to emerge over the past five years, including mpox, which was declared a public health emergency of international concern in July 2022 and again in August 2024. Right now, there’s an outbreak of a new viral disease in the Congo, the origins of which have still not been identified.
We know bats, thought to be the source of the coronavirus behind the COVID pandemic, carry an enormous spectrum of viruses that potentially threaten us. But new pandemics can also arise through mosquitoes and close contact with other animals.
Conclusion
Pandemics are global, not national, problems. We are at a pivotal time where countries, including Australia, must step up their commitments to this global effort. This will need politicians to rely on the evidence and lessons learned from COVID as well as private and public investment.
Unfortunately, five years down the track, we still have a long way to go to be prepared for the next pandemic.
FAQs
* What is the current situation with COVID-19?
COVID-19 continues to circulate, but hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID are vastly less frequent than in previous years.
* How many people have had or are currently living with long COVID?
Estimates suggest more than 400 million people around the world have had or are currently living with long COVID.
* What is being done to prepare for the next pandemic?
The Australian government is investing A$251.7 million in an Australian Centre for Disease Control, and many groups around the world are working on developing a library of drugs that work against whole families of viruses that could cause the next pandemic.
* How can we be better prepared for the next pandemic?
We need to rely on the evidence and lessons learned from COVID, as well as private and public investment, and countries, including Australia, must step up their commitments to this global effort.
