Abstract

LAURELL, Asa Cristina. Dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic. El trimestre econ [online]. 2020, vol.87, n.348, pp.963-984.  Epub Mar 05, 2021. ISSN 2448-718X.  https://doi.org/10.20430/ete.v87i348.1153.

This paper provides a multidimensional reflection on the COVID-19 pandemic. It states that the dominant analytical approach to the pandemic is medical and epidemiological, which leads to an underestimation of its social, economic and political causes and impacts. It also calls attention to the fact that scientific knowledge on COVID-19 is still scarce and contradictory. The essay starts with a review and analysis of the magnitude of the problem compared to other causes of death in Mexico, and a review of how different social and economic conditions seem crucial for the frequency and severity of the disease. It examines the behavior of the medical industrial complex relative to the production of vaccines, drugs and other medical devices, and detects divergent conducts: one highly speculative, including financial speculation, and another that, for the time being, has promised not to take a profit. Finally, there are some considerations concerning how the virus is changing political processes.

Keywords : COVID-19; medical and epidemiological approach; social inequality of disease and death between groups; impact on economy; politicization of COVID-19.

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