When COVID-19 first began spreading rapidly in 2020, humanity found itself entering a race from far behind the starting line. We didn’t know much about how the virus spread \u2014 we didn’t even know whether we could get infected from the air we breathed or the surfaces we touched.<\/p>\n
We didn’t know how likely transmission was outdoors, whether masks would be effective, or how quickly we could develop, produce, and distribute effective vaccines and treatments.<\/p>\n
In short, we were unprepared.<\/p>\n
And the next time something like COVID-19 comes along \u2014 or something far, far worse \u2014 it’s not clear we’ll be much better off.<\/p>\n
This review tells you how you could use your career to do something about it.<\/p>\n
At the most basic level, it involves ensuring that humanity is better prepared, so no virus ever catches us with our guard down again. We should have a much better understanding of how viruses spread so we can stop pandemics out of the gate. We need better systems for rapidly rolling out highly effective vaccines, treatments, and non-pharmaceutical interventions that will work against a wide range of threats. And we need policies, practices, and institutions that reduce the risk of new pandemics \u2014 particularly those caused by artificial pathogens, which we believe pose the greatest dangers \u2014 devastating the world once again.<\/p>\n
We believe you can help tackle some of the world’s biggest and most neglected problems, and our only aim is to help you do that.<\/p>\n
Join our newsletter and we’ll send you a free copy of The Precipice<\/em> \u2014 a book by philosopher Toby Ord about how to tackle the greatest threats facing humanity.<\/p>\n