Internal Medicine

Aspen Ideas: Health takes stock of the pandemic.

Give NowUnsurprisingly, the Aspen Ideas: Health team had a busy 2020. When its annual summer event was put on hold, the team launched a digital series to connect the public with health experts and leaders.

In August, just as Covid-19 cases in the United States climbed toward 5 million, AIH hosted Amna Nawaz, of PBS NewsHour, in conversation with Rajiv Shah, the president of the Rockefeller Foundation, to talk about the foundation’s national testing and tracing action plan. The plan argued that 30 million tests a week would be necessary to reopen communities and economies—far more than was then the norm—and offered critical action steps to put a coordinated strategy in place to take control of the pandemic.

In October, AIH welcomed Clifton Leaf, the editor-in-chief of Fortune, to interview Obama administration FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg and Trump administration FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn about the process of vaccine development, authorization or approval, and deployment. The speakers were optimistic about the ongoing research but concerned about the prospect of vaccine hesitancy—predictions that came true as safe and effective vaccines became widely available. “The trust and confidence in the process and the public health agency responsible for the regulatory oversight,” Hamburg said, “is being questioned because of the intrusion of politics.”

“Do we stand behind science?” Hahn asked. “Do we stand behind the performance of clinical trials? Do we stand behind one of the most important public health measures we have: vaccination?” The recommendations were clear—and they point the way toward a safe future for the country.