We're Even Less Prepared For the Next Pandemic After COVID-19, Expert Warns.

The article focuses on infectious-disease expert Michael Osterholm's concerns about the dismantling of the U.S. public-health infrastructure and its implications for pandemic preparedness. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota, argues that the U.S. is currently less prepared for future pandemics than before COVID-19, citing leadership gaps and insufficient vaccine development capacity. He proposes measures such as community-based hospital capacity monitoring and federal medical ID systems to better manage outbreaks and prevent healthcare overload. Osterholm also critiques the current trustworthiness of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), emphasizing the need for nonpartisan evaluation of pandemic responses to improve future readiness.