Thread by @OliuBarton

Our #COVIDConsensus article published in @Nature !
A few comments on this piece👇
nature.com/articles/s4158…

1/ **Authors** Led by @JVLazarus V. Lazarus (@ISGLOBALorg, College University of New York), I joined this exciting project as part of the core co-author group.

2/ **Context** After nearly 3 years into the pandemic, and 13 billion vaccine doses injected around the world, Covid-19 is no longer the foremost concern for most people. However, far from the spotlight, the pandemic is still causing important damage.

3/ Over the past 12 months excess mortality is estimated to be 6 million worldwide; in France, Germany, the UK, and the US, nearly 500k deaths from Covid were recorded (40k, 58k, 40k, and 320k respectively). Further, hospitalizations and long Covid keep straining health systems.

4/ **Research question** How can we sustainably minimize the damage caused by Covid-19, and avoid returning to wide-reaching incoherent restrictions in a world where most people just prefer to ignore its existence ?

5/ **Hypothesis** Building consensus is an important step to effectively address global issues, and to provide a roadmap for the international community.

6/ **Methodology** To provide a balanced answer we convened, as part of a Delphi study, a diverse, multidisciplinary panel of nearly 400 academic, health, non-governmental organization, government and other experts in COVID-19 response from more than 100 countries.

7/ Named after the famous Greek oracle, the Delphi method is a structured deliberation process on a given topic to distill agreements and disagreements over several rounds.

8/ **Conclusions** The study builds consensus statements and actionable recommendations across 6 major areas: communication, health systems, vaccination, prevention, treatment and care, and inequities. They are addressed to governments, health services, and other stakeholders.

9/ **Outlook** We hope our study will not only help leave the pandemic behind, but also inspire similar efforts regarding other global challenges such as the climate emergency, the loss of biodiversity, air, water and soil pollution, or the ethics of artificial intelligence.

10/ **Personal note** Working on health policy over the last couple of years has been extremely enriching, although at times exhausting... One key learning comes to mind: Deliberation between different disciplines, countries, and cultures is crucial, yet often neglected.

11/ Core co-authors include @MohandesDean, @jljcolorado, @agnesbinagwaho, @martinmckee, @BaryPradelski (n=40); @GuntramWolff is among experts consulted.

12/ For French speakers, check our oped in today's @lemondefr co-authored with @JVLazarus and @BaryPradelski.
Merci @sallesleMonde, @ChrisRousseau1, @BeuveMeryAlain, @clairelegros !
lemonde.fr/idees/article/…).

13/ With great support from @Paris_Dauphine, @psl_univ, @MouhoudEm, @toniroldanm (@EsadeEcPol), Mary Sutherland (senior editor @Nature), @thierpech & @melanieheard11 (@_Terra_Nova), @ArnaudFontanet, @jzettelmeyer, @porcarorama

14/ Thank you also to my collaborators along the way into health policy @martinph01, @AlganYann, @Millet_Laure, @IlonaKickbusch, @BrinkmannLab, @ViolaPriesemann, @Cote_Science, @Droucaute, @Sante_Gouv, @FrcsBraun, @ECDC_EU, @PrAlainFischer, @DBenamouzig, @ArnaudFontanet