Thread by @edyong209

I'm going to log off and try and take a break.

This piece lays out the stakes for the next few weeks.

And here's one last thread reflecting on my experience of covering the pandemic's second year. 1/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…

I think the pandemic traps us (people broadly, and journalists specifically) in the present moment, always reacting (too late) to the current surge or lull. But to really understand how we got here and how to get out, we need to grapple with the past, both recent and distant. 2/

So I wrote about the ways in which trauma lingers, even when some semblance of safety is reached... 3/
theatlantic.com/health/archive…

... and about how America's longstanding bent towards individualism continues to hamper its pandemic response despite a change in administration ... 4/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…

... and how public health has partly lost its way over the last century and could reclaim its more radical roots. 5/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…

I wrote about what the Delta surge did to healthcare workers while it was taking off... 6/ theatlantic.com/health/archive…

... but also, and far more importantly, what all the cumulative surges *have done* to healthcare workers, even when hospitalizations were (briefly) declining. 7/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…

I wrote about long-haulers who've been enduring persistent debilitating symptoms throughout the various surges and lulls, and why they're frustrated with the medical establishment ... 8/
theatlantic.com/science/archiv…

... and, for those long-haulers who are themselves healthcare workers, frustrated with their own colleagues. 9/ theatlantic.com/health/archive…

I tried to continue arranging the pandemic's disparate puzzle pieces into a cohesive synthesis of what the future holds, especially during moments of upheaval--like the ascent of Delta... 10/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…

... and the arrival of Omicron. 11/ theatlantic.com/health/archive…

I tried to tie the above articles together in this one. It shows how the last century's events led us to think about pandemic preparedness in an inadequate way, and how today's decisions are paving the way for future variants and pathogens. 12/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…

And finally, I wrote about how I'm trying to apply my reporting to my own life, in a piece that really isn't about one person's dumb party but is very much a call for putting we over me, and a reminder of the agency we still have. 13/
theatlantic.com/health/archive…

While working on these articles, I've tried to avoid being a generic pandemic pundit; on Twitter and in interviews, I've only weighed in on things that I've specifically reported on. 14/

I've tried to reflect the actual reality of the pandemic, rather than what I want it to be. I've tried to reflect *our collective risk*, long after I got vaccinated and *my personal risk* fell dramatically. 15/

Last year was already draining. This year was worse. Partly, it's because exactly zero people who were full of shit in 2020 suddenly made sense in 2021, but a lot of people who made sense last year just lost the plot this year. 16/

And yet, I hope these pieces have helped at least some of you to make sense of this crisis that seems to make less sense by the day. I'm still learning, and still trying. And I guess I'll still be doing that next year.😬See you then, and stay safe. /End.