Link works fine for me, copypasted the entire article here:

Three years ago, the UK entered what was supposed to be a new era - one where we had learned from the pandemic, adapted, and built a future where health and safety coexisted with normal life. Instead, 'Learning to Live with Covid’ became a euphemism for abandoning any real learning at all.

Despite the suggestion of change, little has been done to protect people in workplaces, schools, hospitals, or public spaces. Instead of solutions grounded in science, we were given advice about flimsy homemade ‘face coverings’ and difficult to adhere to ‘social distancing’ guidance while the fundamental issue - airborne transmission - was ignored. And for those who were (and remain) Clinically Vulnerable, this failure to ‘learn’ has developed into a glaring equality issue, creating systemic disadvantages in work, education, healthcare, and often basic participation in society.

‘Face Coverings’ Don’t Protect Individuals

At the start of the pandemic, the world was caught unprepared. PPE shortages were severe, hospitals were overwhelmed, and governments scrambled to ration the limited supply of high-filtration masks. In the UK, as in many other countries, the immediate priority was to protect frontline healthcare workers - those facing the highest risk of exposure. This was also why were needed the first lockdown: to slow transmission, buy time, and ensure that those on the frontline had access to the essential equipment they needed.

In this context, the promotion of basic ‘face coverings’ made sense. With no access to proper PPE, the public was encouraged to wear anything - homemade fabric masks, loose-fitting surgical masks, even scarves - on the basis that some barrier was better than none. The health messaging was clear: masks weren’t about protecting you as an individual; they were a collective measure which we all needed to comply with to reduce community spread.

The problem is that this advice never evolved. As the pandemic progressed and high-filtration respirators like FFP2 and FFP3 masks became widely available and were enforced in other countries, the UK government failed to update its guidance. While countries like Germany and Austria moved to mandate FFP2 masks in high-risk indoor settings, the British public was left with outdated advice.

We didn’t learn that true personal protection is possible, but it requires a well-fitted respirator - not a flimsy cloth mask, or a loosely worn surgical mask, but proper Personal Protective Equipment designed to filter out airborne particles. The result? Most Clinically Vulnerable people, those most in need of protection, regardless of pandemics, were left without the knowledge or access to the tools that could keep them safe. Many were led to believe that masks simply didn’t work to protect the individual - after all, the official line had always been that they were only useful if everyone wore them.

Meanwhile, those who did understand the difference and continued to wear high-filtration masks are dismissed as overcautious, their choices are attacked or ridiculed as unnecessary paranoia. The science never changed - just the public’s perception, shaped by a government that failed to correct its mistakes. The cost of this failure is still being felt, particularly by those for whom Covid remains a threat, abandoned by a system that has chosen to forget rather than learn.

We could have empowered people to make healthier choices

The Airborne Crisis Wasn’t Addressed

The biggest failure, however, was in ignoring airborne transmission itself. The science was clear early on: Covid is an airborne virus, spreading through shared air in poorly ventilated spaces. Yet, despite this knowledge, almost nothing changed in how we design, monitor, and regulate indoor environments.

Basic ventilation standards were not updated to reflect the need for clean air. CO₂ monitors, a simple tool for measuring air quality, are rarely used even in high-risk settings like hospitals, schools, and offices. The gold standard would be keeping CO₂ levels below 800ppm, ensuring fresher air and reducing the risk of airborne infection. Instead, people are still forced to breathe stale air in crowded rooms.

Image credit: Prof. Miguel Ángel Campano

For those who have learned about air filtration there are ways to reduce risk - but this has been left as an individual burden, not a systemic solution. Authorities refuse to acknowledge their responsibility for the environment and the role of air quality in stopping the spread of disease, ensuring that Covid and other airborne infections will continue to thrive.

Clinical Vulnerability: The Systemic Inequality No One Talks About

From the beginning, we knew that having ‘underlying conditions’ (clinical vulnerability) meant a higher risk of severe illness and death from Covid. But this recognition never led to protections. Instead, as the world moved on, Clinically Vulnerable (CV) people were left behind - stripped of recognition, access to accommodations, and more broadly the right to participate in society safely.

This is an equality issue, yet it has been treated as an afterthought. The consequences can be stark:

• Employment discrimination: Without legal protections, CV people have been forced out of jobs or denied ‘reasonable adjustments’ to work remotely or appropriate consideration for personal safely.

• Unequal access to education: By not addressing ventilation or supporting individual masking those who are most at risk and those in vulnerable households have found themselves excluded from schools and universities without ventilation improvements or remote alternatives.

• Mask discrimination and abuse: Those who continue to wear masks face harassment and exclusion.

• Unequal access to justice: For no clear reason, courts require people to unmask, forcing CV people to choose between their safety and their right to participate or advocate in legal proceedings.

• Barriers to healthcare: Masking has been dropped in hospitals and GP practices, making medical settings less safe for those at high risk. Many CV people are now challenged by healthcare professionals if they chose to protect themselves.

• Mental health and social exclusion: Some CV people remain isolated, unable to safely attend events, use public transport, or engage in social life because the world has decided their safety is no longer a priority.

This is systemic discrimination. A society that values health and safety should not exclude Clinically Vulnerable people - but that is exactly what has happened. Covid is now a persistent presence, and this not just an issue for the most at risk but for everyone. And yet, instead of designing systems that protect those most at risk, we have chosen to erase their needs entirely.

A Small Group Learned - But That’s Not Enough

For a small group of people, the pandemic has led to real learning. We understand the protective value of FFP2 and FFP3 masks. We have educated ourselves on the benefits of air filtration where ventilation is poor. We have fought for our rights, demanding safer conditions in workplaces and schools.

But personal learning cannot replace systemic action. It is not enough for a few to protect themselves when the majority have been misled into thinking Covid and airborne transmission of infections are not a problem. The burden should not be on individuals to fight for safe air - it should have become a public health priority.

A Future That Protects Everyone

This isn’t just about Clinically Vulnerable people, although they are the most affected. The truth is, we all benefit from better quality air. We all suffer when we normalise sickness and presenteeism because viral infections can cause long-term damage and unnecessary loss of life.

Lessons we should have learned are that even healthy people can take control of their health - avoiding unnecessary illness that disrupts their work, their travel, their lives. Some already do. They mask in crowded spaces. They monitor air quality. They choose health. Managing risks should never have been presented as 'personal responsibility’. Governments should be setting higher standards for air quality. Employers should be making workplaces safer. Schools should be ensuring children are not repeatedly exposed to preventable illnesses.

We don’t have to accept all sickness as inevitable. And we certainly don’t have to abandon those who need protection the most.

The pandemic exposed deep inequalities - now we have a choice. We can continue to ignore them, leaving the most vulnerable to fend for themselves, or we can finally learn.

**Learn that **airborne transmission matters **Learn that **protection should be a right, not a privilege

**Learn that **an inclusive society means ensuring everyone has the ability to participate safely

This is about equality. This is about human rights. And this is about making sure Learning to Live with Covid  finally means just that.