The Social Epidemiology of the Covid 19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened health disparities worldwide. Across all nations, the burden of COVID-19 has fallen most heavily on the socially disadvantaged. In the United States, the COVID-19 mortality rate for Black Americans is over twice that of their White American counterparts, and people in prisons have more than double the COVID-19 mortality rate of the general U.S. population. Other social dimensions such as income, gender, sexuality, and immigration status have also played a significant role in COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and mortality.

The Social Epidemiology of the COVID-19 Pandemic provides an interdisciplinary analysis of the pandemic’s effect across populations and its disproportionate impact on vulnerable groups in society, including racial/ethnic minority, immigrant, and incarcerated populations. Written by leading international scholars, this essential volume describes how the COVID-19 pandemic intersects with nearly every social determinant of health, from race and ethnicity to income inequality, and how such interactions compound existing structural disadvantages. Using examples from upper-middle and high-income countries such as the United States, contributing experts delve into the differential impacts of COVID-19 by major social determinants of health and reveal the resultant effect of pandemic-related policy on health outcomes. Together, these authors underline the urgent need for further integration of social epidemiology into public health decision-making to ensure that every population receives the care it requires.

Drawing from research across epidemiology, sociology, psychology, and public policy, The Social Epidemiology of the COVID-19 Pandemic illuminates the stark disparities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the valuable insights from social epidemiology that can inform a more equitable pandemic response.

Dustin T. Duncan, ScD, is Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, where he directs the Columbia Spatial Epidemiology Lab and codirects the Social and Spatial Epidemiology Unit. In addition to HIV and sleep epidemiology, his interests include characterizing the COVID-19 epidemic, especially among marginalized populations. He has received several early-career and distinguished scientific contribution, mentoring, and leadership awards from organizations such as the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science and the National Academy of Medicine.

Ichiro Kawachi, MBChB, PhD, is John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Social Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Kawachi is also co-editor of the eponymous first textbook on Social Epidemiology, published by Oxford University Press in 2000. He is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the US National Academy of Sciences and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Stephen S. Morse, PhD, is Professor of Epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. His research focuses on epidemiology and risk assessment of emerging infectious diseases, and improving disease early warning systems. His book, Emerging Viruses (Oxford University Press, 1993) was selected by American Scientist as one of the ＂100 Top Science Books of the 20th Century.＂ He served on the Steering Committee of the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Microbial Threats, and on numerous National Academies of Sciences and international committees. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Academy of Microbiology.

Sir Michael Marmot, CH, MBBS, MPH, PhD, FRCP, FFPHM, FMedSci, FBA, is Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Institute of Health Equity at the University College London.