COVID-19 pandemic

1,704 articles · Since 2020

Physicians, nurses, residents, and students writing on KevinMD during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, most of it in real time between March 2020 and 2022: the first weeks and the shortages, the surge, redeployment, schools and masks, the vaccine's arrival and the people who refused it, and what the years did to the people who worked through them. This archive is a primary record of what clinicians wrote as it happened, and more of it was written anonymously than any other subject on the site. For that record organized as a timeline, with the disagreements recorded as physicians made them, see COVID-19: what physicians wrote as it happened. For what physicians said about burnout in those years and since, see Physician burnout: what physicians say, in their own words.

Latest articles

Health policy

Rebuilding public trust in science after COVID-19

Rao M. Uppu, PhD

November 7, 2026Nov 7, 2026

On March 19, 2020, I was called to a meeting by Dr. Bijoy Sahoo, who was serving as provost of our university at the time. I was serving as vice president of the Faculty Senate, and because the Senate president was unavailable, I attended the meeting on behalf of the faculty. The university faced an urgent challenge: how to protect students, faculty, and staff from a rapidly spreading pandemic while …

Drugs and prescribing

Post-vaccination syndrome treatment update for 2026

Harry Oken, MD

August 16, 2026Aug 16, 2026

A year ago, I wrote about post-vaccination syndrome (PVS) after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination as a real, patient-reported problem that remains poorly defined and understudied. I described my wife's experience and called for serious study of patients with persistent symptoms after…

A year ago, I wrote about post-vaccination syndrome (PVS) after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination as a real, patient-reported problem that remains poorly defined and understudied. I described my wife’s experience and called for serious study of patients with persistent symptoms after vaccination.

My wife’s prolonged, relapsing illness prompted me to write publicly about PVS. Her symptoms began approximately two weeks after her third mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in late 2021. Since then, …

Conditions and diseases

Why moral injury in health care outlasts the pandemic

Tomi Mitchell, MD

August 7, 2026Aug 7, 2026

History deserves honesty. Years have passed since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with distance comes a natural desire to reflect on what happened. We should absolutely evaluate the decisions that were made. We should question policies, examine the…

History deserves honesty.

Years have passed since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with distance comes a natural desire to reflect on what happened. We should absolutely evaluate the decisions that were made. We should question policies, examine the evidence, and learn from our mistakes. That is how science grows, and health care improves.

But there is a difference between learning from history and rewriting it. Lately, I have watched with …

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Conditions and diseases

Should the law force doctors to prescribe on demand?

M. Bennet Broner, PhD

July 6, 2026Jul 6, 2026

When the president announced that Tylenol caused autism (it does not), he commented that leucovorin, a cancer medication, treated the condition. His remark had an outsized impact on the public, despite counter-statements by autism specialists. I can understand the response. What mother-to-be would take the chance, even if untrue, that Tylenol may cause autism? Or if parents have a child with this condition, would they not be willing to try …

Conditions and diseases

Why the doctor-patient relationship survives when trust in public health fails

Myles Deal, MD

April 26, 2026Apr 26, 2026

Once the lockdowns from COVID-19 began, a new normal of distrusting America's public health officials started. Dr. Anthony Fauci quickly became the most famous and controversial physician in America. At the start of the pandemic, having the responsibility of communicating…

Once the lockdowns from COVID-19 began, a new normal of distrusting America’s public health officials started. Dr. Anthony Fauci quickly became the most famous and controversial physician in America. At the start of the pandemic, having the responsibility of communicating information and data with the entire country, his advice was trusted by most Americans; a Kaiser Family Foundation survey showed that in December 2020, 90 percent of Democrats and …

Health policy

Why Filipino nurses faced higher COVID-19 mortality rates

Joaquim Diego Santos

February 10, 2026Feb 10, 2026

I was always taught to show respect to older relatives through the mano po gesture. If I were meeting a new family member, I would say "Ang pangalan ko Joaquim" to introduce myself. However, since immigrating to the United States…

I was always taught to show respect to older relatives through the mano po gesture. If I were meeting a new family member, I would say “Ang pangalan ko Joaquim” to introduce myself. However, since immigrating to the United States from the Philippines, there are fewer and fewer people who call me by my actual name.

My family immigrated to the United States in 2002 after my mother accepted an opportunity …

Conditions and diseases

From doctor to patient: a critical care physician’s ICU journey

Ian Barbash, MD

January 29, 2026Jan 29, 2026

This is the fifth New Year since the onset of COVID-19 in America. I am a pulmonary and critical care physician who had spent a decade of my life working in ICUs before I became an ICU patient myself in 2025. As a physician, husband, and father of four young children, I had been saving others. But this year, I needed to be saved.

Transitions are times for introspection. How do …

Conditions and diseases

Healing from the pandemic’s mental toll

Zamra Amjid, DHSc, MHA

October 26, 2025Oct 26, 2025

The pandemic changed us in ways that cannot be measured by infection rates alone. Beyond the physical toll, it left lasting scars on our mental health. Fear, uncertainty, and isolation became daily realities. As a health professional and researcher, I wanted to understand how people could begin to heal. During my doctoral work, I studied adults who engaged in different wellness practices after the pandemic. Some found relief in nature: …

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Healing from the pandemic’s mental toll

The Podcast by KevinMD

Pandemic reflections: a nurse anesthetist on trauma, loss, and finding hope [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

April 30, 2025Apr 30, 2025

Nurse anesthetist Christine King discusses her article, "The heartbreaking pandemic story I will never forget." Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic five years later, she shares the profound impact of collective trauma through personal and professional lenses. Christine recounts a moving…

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Nurse anesthetist Christine King discusses her article, “The heartbreaking pandemic story I will never forget.” Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic five years later, she shares the profound impact of collective trauma through personal and professional lenses. Christine recounts a moving encounter with a musician patient who endured extreme isolation and …

Conditions and diseases

The heartbreaking pandemic story I will never forget

Christine King, CRNA

April 22, 2025Apr 22, 2025

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the world five years ago, and the world seems to be contemplating that history lately. Numerous articles reflect on that time now that we are passing that first major milestone. In many ways, we are still…

In mid-2021, things started returning to “normal” in the health care setting. The absolute jubilation of having a vaccine available …

Conditions and diseases

Through the lens of COVID: a radiologic technologist’s story

Kyle Wells, RT

April 2, 2025Apr 2, 2025

I've been an X-ray and CT technologist for almost ten years, and I've always taken pride in my work. But nothing could have prepared me—or any of us—for what the COVID-19 pandemic brought. It wasn't just the virus itself; it…

I’ve been an X-ray and CT technologist for almost ten years, and I’ve always taken pride in my work. But nothing could have prepared me—or any of us—for what the COVID-19 pandemic brought. It wasn’t just the virus itself; it was the way it exposed the cracks in our health care system, the way it pushed us all to our limits, and the way it changed how we saw our …

Conditions and diseases

Long COVID’s hidden struggles: precision psychiatry and hope for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)

Someleze Swana

February 1, 2025Feb 1, 2025

Introduction Long COVID has emerged as a silent health crisis, lingering long after the acute phase of the pandemic has faded. For countless lives, the battle with COVID-19 did not end with recovery from the virus. Instead, it transformed into…

Introduction

Long COVID has emerged as a silent health crisis, lingering long after the acute phase of the pandemic has faded. For countless lives, the battle with COVID-19 did not end with recovery from the virus. Instead, it transformed into an enduring struggle with debilitating symptoms, including depression, anxiety, sleep disorder, PTSD, cognitive dysfunction, and post-COVID fatigue. This psychiatric landscape demands more than incremental solutions; it calls for bold, transformative approaches …

The Podcast by KevinMD

When “do no harm” falls short: a pediatrician’s plea for long COVID care [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

January 27, 2025Jan 27, 2025

Navigating the uncharted waters of long COVID in children, Elham Raker shares a deeply personal journey of advocating for her daughter's health while questioning the medical system's approach to chronic illness. This episode uncovers the challenges of limited resources, fragmented…

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Navigating the uncharted waters of long COVID in children, Elham Raker shares a deeply personal journey of advocating for her daughter’s health while questioning the medical system’s approach to chronic illness. This episode uncovers the challenges of limited resources, fragmented care, and the emotional toll on families. Together, we explore what …

Conditions and diseases

Why superheroes never get sick: the mask connection

Dale J. Bingham, PA-C, MPH

January 25, 2025Jan 25, 20252

A daily dose of sarcasm to trigger some thought, and to ask some serious questions we all should be able to discuss peacefully. These are not necessarily my personal beliefs, lest I need to be attacked at some point by…

But let’s start here: I’ve never known Batman, or Robin, for that case, to ever get ill. And I am old enough to remember racing home to catch …

Conditions and diseases

Sweden’s controversial COVID-19 strategy: lessons from higher mortality rates

P. Dileep Kumar, MD, MBA

January 20, 2025Jan 20, 2025

Sweden is being touted as an example of a successful fight against COVID-19 without imposing strict social isolation measures. While it is true that Sweden was one of the few countries that did not impose severe lockdown protocols and procedures,…

First of all, it is not true that Sweden took a totally relaxed approach to COVID-19 by keeping all establishments open …

Conditions and diseases

Long COVID and sleep: an urgent call to action

Elizabeth Benge, MD

December 22, 2024Dec 22, 2024

Long COVID is real. For millions of people who contracted COVID-19, recovery has been a long and uncertain road. While many regained their health in weeks, others continue to face persistent symptoms and health problems for months or even years after the acute infection. Patients, caregivers, and clinicians alike have named this condition “long COVID,” while scientists often refer to it as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC).

The long-term effects of …

Conditions and diseases

Doctors must rethink “do no harm” to help children with long COVID

Elham Raker, MD

December 16, 2024Dec 16, 2024

As medical students, we all take the Hippocratic oath—a pledge to help patients and, of course, not to cause harm in any treatments we provide. It is a core element in the care of our patients. We would never want…

As medical diseases have become more and more complex, can we ethically say we will not offer a …

Health policy

Prevention is the key to saving lives: What the pandemic taught us

Anand Parekh, MD

November 3, 2024Nov 3, 2024

An excerpt from Prevention First: Policymaking for a Healthier America. Little did I know that when Prevention First was first published in December 2019, a novel virus with pandemic potential had begun to stealthily spread in China. The subsequent global…

An excerpt from Prevention First: Policymaking for a Healthier America.

Little did I know that when Prevention First was first published in December 2019, a novel virus with pandemic potential had begun to stealthily spread in China. The subsequent global COVID-19 pandemic resulted in nearly 7 million deaths, exacerbated long-standing health challenges, and led to life expectancy declines around the globe.

With over 1.1 million American lives lost during the COVID-19 …

Physician voices

Trust me, I’m an expert: the pandemic parade of pompous professionals

Charles Dinerstein, MD, MBA

September 20, 2024Sep 20, 2024

In a world where experts are our go-to for solving everything, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed just how fallible these specialists can be. Despite impressive titles and years of experience, many experts were just as clueless as the rest of us, often with unwarranted confidence. A recent study delves into the uncomfortable truth: the more knowledge you think you have, the less aware you might be of your actual ignorance.

We rely …

Conditions and diseases

Has COVID-19 changed the way oncologists talk about cancer?

Robert McEachern, PhD

September 11, 2024Sep 11, 2024

War metaphors in oncology are controversial, to say the least. For some patients with cancer, the idea that they are "cancer warriors" in a "battle" with their disease is inspiring. Using such language gives them a sense of agency in…

War metaphors in oncology are controversial, to say the least. For some patients with cancer, the idea that they are “cancer warriors” in a “battle” with their disease is inspiring. Using such language gives them a sense of agency in a situation where very little is in their control. Many others loathe such language …

COVID-19 pandemic

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