The work toward equity that awaits a pandemic-weary nation: ANALYSIS

The nation will soon mark 1 million COVID-19 deaths.

For many Americans, this spring brings hope for brighter days. The worst of this winter's devastating omicron wave has passed, and the parts of our lives that were taken so abruptly from us -- family gatherings, the company of friends, a regular school day -- are once again more the rule than the exception. We have earned the right to appreciate this moment.

But as we allow ourselves to breathe a little easier, we do so with a heavy heart. The United States will soon mark the unfathomable milestone of 1 million COVID-19 deaths. More than 200,000 children have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19, and the youth mental health crisis has only grown. Stark inequities have forced people of color -- who comprise more than 40% of our nation's heroic essential workers -- to shoulder a disproportionate burden throughout the pandemic.

Tens of millions of Americans still lack the basic support to keep themselves and their families healthy: a living wage, health care coverage, paid sick or family leave, affordable child care or housing and access to nutritious foods. We all still suffer the consequences of an underfunded and chronically neglected public health system.

At the outset of the pandemic, I predicted the disparate impacts that ultimately emerged. Indeed, the vulnerabilities in March 2020 were the same ones that existed when I led emergency preparedness and response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and as acting CDC director at the dawn of the H1N1 pandemic in 2009.