Coronavirus

Juliette Kayyem argues that although the emergency social-safety provisions helped those most in need, the use of Title 42 was a brutal and unforgiving policy that essentially ended asylum in the United States.

Juliette Kayyem writes that to treat the crisis phase of the pandemic as complete is not the same as declaring that the country's battle against COVID is over or that many Americans' unmet needs are irrelevant. It is to say that many of the persistent systemic problems revealed by the coronavirus can be addressed, if elected representatives choose, without requiring a declared emergency as a pretext for action.

Juliette Kayyem writes that deliberately accepting some risks, and then being prepared when disaster strikes, will serve human societies better than pretending that perfect safety is achievable. We cannot prevent an earthquake or a tsunami, but we have control over how much death and destruction it causes.

North America continues to face evolving challenges to comprehensive emergency management. As climate change, technology, global health, and the nature and scale of emergencies change, so does the need for improved coordination among the United States, Mexico, and Canada. This is further complicated by the distinct federal systems that operate in each country, and the different roles that national, regional, and private corporations can and should play across all of these separate jurisdictions.

Juliette Kayyem argues that the decision to move on to the recovery phase needs to be made by politicians, not scientists.

Juliette Kayyem argues that people who opt out of shots shouldn't expect their employers, health insurers, and fellow citizens to accommodate them.  

Juliette Kayyem explains that rather than mandating COVID-19 vaccinations, institutions are shifting burdens to unvaccinated people—denying them access to certain spaces, requiring them to take regular COVID-19 tests, charging them for the cost of that testing—rather than imposing greater burdens on everyone. 

We may never reach the point when viral spread stops, but a strategy of minimizing risk—not eliminating it—can help Americans reclaim normalcy.

H. Holden Thorp interviewed Juliette Kayyem for an editorial on lessons for science communication from the COVID-19 pandemic.

We were supposed to vaccinate 20 million Americans by the end of the year. We've fallen well short of that. Should we be worried? The hosts are joined by Juliette Kayyem, a former Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security who ran intergovernmental efforts like the one behind the vaccine rollout. She explains what's going on, what the problems have been, and why we shouldn't be too concerned (yet).