Medical Officer of Health reflects on COVID-19 pandemic on fifth anniversary

“It feels like yesterday in some ways, and yet the world seems very different,” said Middlesex-London Medical Officer of Health Dr. Alex Summers on the fifth anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I reflect on how much our community had to come together in order to respond to that, and I look back at how much it demonstrated how much we care for one another.”

On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

In the days that followed, most Londoners were directed to stay home.

Usually bustling streets were virtually empty, and many stores and restaurants temporarily closed.

“Residents continually demonstrated that they cared about one another, that they believed the science, that they would do their part in order to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their community,” Summers recalled.

Policies evolved as medical experts learned more about the virus and political leaders juggled economic needs with public health.

Terms like “social distancing” and “masking” became part of the national lexicon—and eventually points of contention.

Dr. Summers recalled the efforts by local healthcare workers to administer hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses to residents who lined up to do their part.

“The first vaccine for COVID-19 arrived in our region late in 2020, and our community really stepped up to the plate, rolling up their sleeves and getting vaccinated. Not once, not twice, but three times and even more,” he said. “That vaccination effort is one of the reasons why we’re able to be as strong as a community as we are today.”

The WHO declared the COVID-19 pandemic over in May, 2023 but the virus has not disappeared.

Dr. Summers believes the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic will serve the community into the future.

“We learned that we have to be constantly vigilant to the threat of infectious diseases. They will emerge [and] they will continue to transmit in our community,” he added. “We cannot take for granted the importance of the precautions and tools to protect ourselves - most notably vaccination.”