Collateral Global Newsletter, January 2024
An update about our progress in 2023 & plans for 2024
We were busy in 2023 documenting the harms of Covid restrictions on society in research reports, videos, media articles and much more – see our website. We now have plans in 2024 to launch a new worldwide strategy to support country evaluations, plug critical research gaps, and provide input into policy guidelines and legislation.
Watch our new Introductory Video to learn more about our efforts to make CG a sustainable presence in the world of pandemic research and policy for years to come.
To lead this effort, Dr. Kevin Bardosh has now taken on the role of Director and Head of Research at CG. Kevin brings 15 years’ experience working in more than 20 countries on the control of infectious disease.
What were we up to in 2023?
Here are a few highlights from our work in 2023:
1. Ten Ways the Covid Response Harmed Society
We have released a major report on the harms of Covid policies written by our Director, Dr. Kevin Bardosh. This report synthesized over 600 academic publications and is the most comprehensive global evaluation of these harms to date. You can watch our new video series, in 10 episodes, covering the report.
2. Weekly analysis of the UK Covid Inquiry
We have been following the UK Covid Inquiry since it began in June 2023. You can read our weekly commentaries and analyses published in Unherd.
Sunetra Gupta, one of our founders, submitted her witness statement to the UK Covid Inquiry in October 2023. Read it in full here.
3. Impact of restrictions in low-income countries
In April 2023, we helped convene a group of 30 scholars, social activists, and experts in the field of development and global health at King’s College London (KCL) to discuss the impacts of Covid restrictions in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). Read our report and recommendations here.
4. New Covid Stories WebApp
In May 2023, we launched our new Covid Stories WebApp, designed to allow you to tell the world how the global Covid response impacted you personally. Check it out here.
5. New video documentaries
We continue to commission video documentaries from the global south, including a 6-part series by Mamadou Ndiaye on Daily Life in Post-Pandemic Senegal and The Children of Nowhere, by Kunal Purohit and Abeer Khan, about the harms of school closures in India.
You can listen to and read our wide variety of other interviews, essays, editorials and research studies on our website.
What are our upcoming plans in 2024?
We plan to launch a new and ambitious worldwide strategy in January 2024. In the short-term, we are prioritizing a number of activities:
1. Country evaluations
We have plans to launch a series of country evaluations in 2024 and to help establish and support Covid inquiries around the world.
2. The CG research network
We will soon be re-launching our CG community of Research Associates with a plan to bring new academic researchers and practitioners onboard.
3. Academic research
We have plans to address important knowledge gaps about lockdown, herd immunity, scientific freedom, disease models, child wellbeing, economic recovery, and much more.
4. Public engagement We are planning a new podcast series focused on books, art and reports that emerged from the pandemic. Some additional plans for 2024 include: a summer school, a new research journal, and a series of workshops and conferences around the world.
Support us!
Please consider supporting us through our crowdfunding campaign,
which can be accessed here.
We cannot do this important work without the support of thousands of large and small donations from the public and foundations.
Together we can ensure that future pandemic responses are evidence-based and better balance societal trade-offs in order to maximize the health and well-being of all people.
Happy New Year to you and your family!
Kevin Bardosh, on behalf of Collateral Global
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