Intersectional reflections on the impact of COVID-19 across the life course

Abstract

The occurrence and development of COVID-19 was unexpected. During these last two years social distancing and lockdown measures, vaccination programmes, and dealing with virus variants have led to a climate of fear and uncertainty. The first COVID-19 case in Malta was recorded on 7th March 2020. Since then, Malta has experienced four transitions as far as the containment and spread of COVID-19 is concerned and is currently going through a fourth transition characterised by an efficient vaccination programme that has put both the number of COVID cases and COVID-related deaths to record lows. Drawing on presentations during a Faculty for Social Wellbeing seminar in 2022, this paper presents a number of reflections on how the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic was not a homogenous one. The pandemic impacted persons differently depending on their positioning in the life course as well as in the social structure. For instance, being pregnant and giving birth during a pandemic was accompanied by considerable uncertainty. Also, ascertaining that persons with disability and older persons continue to exercise their human rights emerged as a crucial challenge. The pandemic has therefore not been experienced by everyone equally and in the same way, with some age groups and vulnerable groups being rendered increasingly voiceless. Governments are presently endeavouring to jump start the economy and yet there is an embedded feeling that the new ‘normal’ will be nothing like the past. How will we return to ‘normality’, if ever, and what are the changes we envisage? These were among the questions that were asked during the annual seminar and that have informed this paper.