The COVID-19 Experience

Although it might seem difficult to believe now, thanks to the great exponential advances in science and technology, I hope that there will be some antivirals in a few weeks and the first vaccines against this coronavirus in a few months. It is quite possible that this terrible pandemic will be remembered in the future for having been overcome with unprecedented speed. The situation  is providing a great lesson for humankind. It has shown that we must work together because global problems require global solutions. This experience will eventually serve as a model for tackling other global challenges such as climate change and terrorism.

There will be new pandemics in the future, but we will be more prepared to overcome them quickly thanks to exponential technologies. It is highly likely that we will sequence the next pandemic virus in just two days, and the next one after maybe in two hours, and not in two weeks like in the current situation, or two months for SARS two decades ago, or more than two years for AIDS. Not only are the timescales for fighting these diseases being reduced exponentially, but the costs also are falling dramatically.

Jose Cordeiro, Director of The Millennium Project, Vice chair of HumanityPlus, Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, Spain