COVID-19 Pandemic: Insights from RAND

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread illness and death, economic devastation, day-to-day challenges, and long-term uncertainty. RAND research and analysis provide insights on the effects of this monumental crisis.

Since the pandemic began, RAND expertise has helped leaders and decisionmakers tackle important issues related to health care responses; reopening schools and businesses while preventing further disease spread; and how to address hesitancy and misinformation about vaccines.

And although the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency expired on May 11, 2023, many important questions remain. How has the COVID-19 era exacerbated inequities in health, economic, and education outcomes? What is known about the mental health toll of the crisis? Are there lessons that can help prevent future pandemics?

Answers to these questions may help communities, businesses, and individuals recover long after the worst of the pandemic has passed.

Vaccinations, Health Care, and Well-Being

  • Medical staff conducting COVID-19 tests for drivers in their vehicles at a clinic in Gwangju, near Seoul, South Korea, March 2, 2020, photo by Yonhap News Agency via Latin America News Agency/Reuters

    Commentary

    Can South Korea Help the World Beat the Next Pandemic?

    As the world emerges from the long and devastating COVID-19 pandemic, nations around the world, including the United States, could look to South Korea's near-perfect response as a model for dealing with future public health crises.

    Sep 7, 2022

Workers and the Economy

  • Workers stand in line to cast ballots for a union election at Amazon's JFK8 distribution center, in the Staten Island borough of New York City, March 25, 2022, photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters

    Commentary

    A Whole New, Same World

    Workers in the United States have emerged from the pandemic with new preferences and demands, but they still lack the power to get what they want. By any meaningful measure, employers are still in charge.

    Apr 20, 2022

Education

    Vulnerable Populations

    • President Joe Biden signs the American Rescue Plan in the Oval Office, at the White House in Washington, D.C., March, 11, 2021, photo by Doug Mills/Pool/Sipa USA/Reuters

      Commentary

      Temporary Safety-Net Policies Prevented Mass Insurance Loss During the Pandemic

      Although it provided a foundation, the ACA alone could not have absorbed the effects of the pandemic's sudden job losses on health care coverage. Temporary expansions to the safety net enacted by Congress also were necessary to stem coverage loss. As the pandemic continues, policymakers will want to keep safety-net provisions as available policy options.

      Dec 13, 2021

    National Security and International Affairs

    • A collage of the COVID-19 virus, armed terror groups, and a biological response team

      Report

      Implications of the Pandemic for Terrorist Interest in Biological Weapons

      Some policymakers and analysts have expressed concern that weaknesses in responses to the COVID-19 pandemic will motivate terrorists to seek biological weapons. While the prospect of the Islamic State and al-Qaeda pursuing biological weapons is not zero, it is unlikely, given the difficulties involved and the availability of simpler alternatives.

      May 31, 2022

    View all of RAND's COVID-19 related work