Human history has recently been facing a virus that has collapsed the world, damaged the economy, and affected the healthcare sectors globally. About 476 million people of the world have been affected by covid-19, and nearly 6.1 million casualties occurred due to covid-19 in just three years.
Many countries have been affected very badly by covid-19, which has led them to a crisis for years to come. The government, economic, and health sectors are under immense pressure to get things under control.
People are more concerned about their health and lives than ever before. Our medical services frameworks were not prepared to manage such an unusual challenge that required the dire assembly of assets. In numerous ways, the Covid-19 pandemic proved to be entirely against the bearing capacity of medical care sectors, especially in underdeveloped nations. Let us have a look at how the covid-19 pandemic affected the healthcare sectors all around the world.
- Lack Of Staff Individuals
When covid-19 emerged, the world witnessed unprecedented effects on many sectors. One of these effects was a shortage of employees in almost every sector of our lives, such as businesses, government sectors, and hospitals. Because the numbers of the affected people were enormous, the hospitals were running out of staff members that could take care of the patients admitted to their hospitals. Many staff members were themselves affected by the virus, which resulted in them being isolated for two weeks or admitted to the same hospital they once worked in.
Many universities offered online courses to make healthcare degrees easier for applicants to cater to the lack of staff. The medical sector started hiring more people with online degrees like an RN to BSN online program to tackle the need of the hour, which was a shortage of staff.
- Financial Pressure on Health Sectors
The growing numbers of patients affected by Covid-19 put immense pressure on the health sector. The Covid-19 pandemic forced the healthcare sectors to go through one of the biggest financial challenges in history. As the health sectors consume a significant percentage of a country’s GDP, the increased financial requirements led to catastrophic challenges for many nations. Hospitals faced many problems as they had to pay their staff for overtime, needed more space and more emergency rooms and equipment for the number of patients admitted in the hospitals. Many hospitals had to close their doors for more patients after facing such serious obstacles due to financial crises.
The lack of experience was also a major issue for many countries that were hit hard by such a pandemic. Doctors and other medical staff were inexperienced in such disasters and were left with insufficient training due to financial pressure on the health sectors around the globe.
- Shortage of Equipment and Supplies
One of the major crises that the hospitals were facing was a lack of medical supplies due to the enormous number of patients that no nation could have ever predicted. There was a global shortage of supplies like gowns, gloves, sanitizers, face shields, aprons, goggles, surgical masks, ventilators, oxygen cylinders, and other hi-tech medical equipment. Several studies show how the government was in action during this pandemic crisis. Many hospitals didn’t have enough space, so patients were being treated at home due to a shortage of ventilators and ICU.
Fortunately, there was an enormous amount of funding and other aid during the pandemic from the developed and less affected countries. This proved to be very helpful for the countries that were facing crises due to a shortage of supplies. Still, many underdeveloped states faced the problem of basic supplies and shortage of equipment in their health sectors which led to a rise in the number of casualties due to covid-19.
- Shortage of Vaccines and Medicines
A major problem that the world was facing during this pandemic was a shortage of vaccines and medicines. The numbers of infected people were increasing day by day, and there was no cure to be found. Although stakeholders such as international organizations, health providers, government sectors, pharmacists, and other departments were putting in their best efforts, the shortage continued.
Medical supplies were also disturbed due to economic disasters of states, resulting in yet another challenge that the countries had to face. The underdeveloped nations were the ones affected the most by this pandemic. Nations joined hands to help pull each other through these trying times and save as many lives as possible.
- Uncertainties in Vaccines
Many countries were suffering from a lack of confidence in the newly developed vaccines. Normally it takes 5-10 years to make a new vaccine, but in this pandemic, the first vaccine, Pfizer, was produced a year after the breakout of the virus. The aim to help people get vaccinated to boost their immunity and fight the virus was the major reason that drove companies to produce such a quick vaccine.
However, after the development of vaccines, the world was divided into two opinions. One was that everyone should get vaccinated as soon as possible, so the virus doesn’t spread this fast. The second opinion was that vaccines had no effect on the virus and people were still getting infected by covid-19, and the number of casualties was still increasing. The other factor that made people doubt the vaccine was the side effects and low accuracy of vaccines, which made people come out of their houses and protest on the roads, even during the pandemic. However, with time, the effectiveness of the vaccines improved as officials dug deeper into research, and it started producing satisfactory results.
The declaration of a pandemic since March 2020 has impacted the world with an unpredictable number of challenges. These include a lack of facilities, weak governance, uncertain times, and economic disasters around the globe. Healthcare workers and civilians alike, people faced problems that they were not prepared for, and because of that, the world was shaken vigorously, and many sectors of the global infrastructure collapsed. However, the efforts from the officials helped get the world back to its feet.