Ending pandemic exceptionalismBy Chris van LaakIt is astonishing how differently the COVID-19 pandemic has transpired in Taiwan than in other countries with equal, or what should have been equal, disease prevention capabilities. When Taiwan largely kept the virus at its borders for most of the pandemic, it was a laudable success, but it eventually proved elusive and a few days in May brought a persistent domestic outbreak, plunging Taiwan into the “normal” of the international pandemic. However, it is more likely that some trends the world has seen in the past 18 months are to continue. Now might not be the time for that, not when only about 35 percent of Taiwanese have partial protection through vaccines. The nation needs to have a conversation about the possibility of a post-pandemic world in which COVID-19 is still around.

Source: Taipei Times August 05, 2021 16:07 UTC