Just over two years ago, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic. New York City quickly became the epicenter, and the Mount Sinai community rose to the challenge.
Now, at this moment of cautious hope, a cross-section of the Mount Sinai community—front-line providers, researchers, and leadership—took a moment to consider two questions about the pandemic: What have we learned, and what lies ahead?
Here are thoughts from some of those in research at Mount Sinai.
Judith A. Aberg, MD
There are many lessons learned in regards to pandemic response and therapeutic interventions. In an unfathomably short amount of time, we now have effective therapeutics and vaccines to prevent much of the serious illness and death associated with SARS-CoV-2.
We have learned that vaccines not only save lives but reduce the risk of developing Long COVID. Yet, we have also succumbed to political pressures and social media misinformation that have resulted in health disparities, especially among people in rural communities and in disenfranchised populations where scientific discovery, therapeutics, and vaccines are significantly less accessible.
We must do all we can to assure that the world is aware of the true threats of COVID-19 and to provide the education and resources to protect ourselves from emerging variants. Every time the pandemic starts to seem as if it might be over, people start letting their guard down to return to pre-pandemic activities—only to find themselves caught in another surge.
We are now approaching 500 million cases worldwide, including more than 60 million deaths, since the pandemic began. The United States has led in absolute numbers with almost 82 million cases and more than 1 million deaths. We must remain vigilant and assure access to resources, therapeutics, and vaccines for all.
Judith A. Aberg, MD, Chief of Infectious Diseases, Mount Sinai Health System
Dean of System Operations for Clinical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
The Simon Lab
What have we learned over the past two years: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted that in a crisis of such dimension, when time is at a premium, one needs to have infrastructures in place to deal with it. Most important is the forging of strong working relations. We created working relations between our research scientists and the clinical medical community that did not exist before. This allowed us to quickly develop and implement tests to measure SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, follow the evolution of the virus, and provide guidance on new treatment options.
I also learned of the remarkable dedication of the Mount Sinai community. Staff, researchers, students, doctors, and nurses worked endless hours at great personal risk to deal with the many challenges we faced. I am so proud of my lab members and volunteers who joined us every day over the past two years to advance our knowledge. None of the progress we made would have been possible without the strong, competent, and supportive leadership of the school and the hospital.
What lies ahead: Thanks to the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, antiviral treatments, and prophylaxis options, we are in a much better place now. We will build on what we learned to ensure that we are better prepared for the future. For example, the Center for Vaccine Research and Pandemic Preparedness, which is co-directed by Florian Krammer, PhD, and myself, will help to provide the infrastructures and strong working relationships needed for dealing with SARS-CoV-2 variants and future pandemics.
Viviana Simon, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology
Michael Schotsaert, PhD
The self-sacrifice of health care personnel and scientists during the COVID-19 pandemic—trying to understand this new virus and disease to come up with proper treatments—was enormous. Thanks to previous studies on corona- and other viruses and the availability of specialized high-containment laboratories like the ones at Mount Sinai, it was possible to unravel fundamental characteristics of the virus at record speed, which informed antiviral treatments and vaccine development.
Real-time sharing of research and clinical data was crucial and was facilitated by social media and existing and new collaborations between research groups and medical teams all over the world. Public health agencies like the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization played a major role in facilitating collaborations, not only between academic partners but also between academia and industry. The latter was crucial for developing, validating, and bringing to the clinic the novel, live-saving antiviral drugs, antibodies, and vaccines that are the key to a pandemic exit.
None of this would have been possible without the many years of investment in pandemic preparedness. The high death toll and burden on society caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, however, shows that even more investment is needed if we want to be ready to tackle the next time a pathogen with pandemic potential emerges. Therefore it is important to further invest in global pathogen surveillance and fundamental research, and to strengthen partnerships between academia, industry, and public health agencies.
Michael Schotsaert, PhD, Assistant Professor, Microbiology
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