Leading medical historian Frank Snowden, author of “Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present” and professor emeritus at Yale University, has discussed how he believes that COVID-19 will change the world. Tara Pilkington brings you everything you need to know.
In a recent interview, historical Frank Snowden has commented on the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, saying that: “This virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities. And this virus may never go away. HIV has not gone away, but we’ve come to terms with the virus.”
Here are the top 5 things that you need to know from his interview:
- Commenting on how different societal groups are persecuted following pandemics throughout history, Snowden said: “This xenophobia is — this blame, scapegoating, we see that today with the coronavirus. It’s something that can happen, has repeatedly happened, with the idea that this is a Chinese disease.”
- He added: “And we see that Chinese Americans, children being attacked in schools, Chinese Americans afraid to ride alone on the New York subway and arranging to travel in groups so they won’t do that. This is part of a long-term legacy of these diseases.”
- He also commented on how this narrative has been used in the media, commenting: “The right-wing nationalist politicians of Europe have been using that, saying it’s been imported by immigrants. So, that’s one of the false stories that’s followed in the wake of this. So that’s another really terrible recurring feature of these pandemic diseases.”
- Regarding a potential vaccine, Snowden said: “I’m sure that we will develop a vaccine, but I also fear that it may not be the — it won’t be the magic bullet that people believe”
- He went on to say: “A vaccine is an ideal candidate if in nature it produces a robust immunity in the human body, so people, having once had it, are totally immune for life. That doesn’t seem to be the case with COVID-19. So I expect it to become long-term with us. We’re going to have to learn to live with this disease.”
You can order Frank Snowden’s latest book here: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300192216/epidemics-and-society
