A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #365 - Politics - Covid-19: Six Years of the Pandemic, and Now What? (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

It has already been six years since Covid-19 appeared and marked our 
lives. While liberal policies have forced us to "live with the virus," 
where does the pandemic stand, and what can we put in place to fight for 
our health self-defense? ---- Despite the government's proclamation of 
the end of the health emergency in August 2023, the Covid pandemic 
continues. As we demonstrated in December 2023[1], our social class 
still fails to integrate health as a collective objective into its 
thinking. Yet, the pandemic has exposed the fundamental contradictions 
of capitalism. On the one hand, this system claimed to protect human 
life through the prowess of science and technology; on the other, it has 
subordinated these advances to the pursuit of profit.

Blood on Our Hands
Vaccines, the fruit of a collective effort, have proven effective 
against severe forms of Covid, but their use has been undermined by a 
lack of transparency, excessive promises, and the absence of a coherent 
collective strategy. By failing to implement social and technical 
measures to reduce transmission-through ventilation of enclosed spaces, 
free protective equipment, reorganization of work, and the sharing of 
knowledge-the virus continued to circulate, fostering the emergence of 
new variants, weakening the very effectiveness of vaccines, and eroding 
public trust. Each individual was left to their own devices, as if it 
were a personal choice rather than a social issue. It is in this arena 
that charlatans, conspiracy theorists, and reactionary politicians have 
also flourished, exploiting popular anger instead of directing it 
against its true cause: Capital, which commodifies life.

Emmanuel Macron and his "living with" strategy have blood on their 
hands[2]. The ruling classes have deliberately orchestrated a social 
management of death: those deemed "unproductive"-the elderly, the 
disabled, and those in precarious situations-have been sacrificed in the 
name of maintaining the economy. COVID-19 vaccination campaigns are 
receiving less and less media attention and are presented as being 
useful only for "at-risk individuals." This targeting demonstrates 
ableism and a certain contempt for these people: they alone should be 
concerned about their health, and others who get vaccinated to protect 
them are supposedly doing so out of kindness. Quebec, by making 
vaccination a paid service (at a cost of 150 to 180 Canadian dollars) 
for "non-at-risk" individuals[3], is going even further in endangering them.

According to a recent study[4], more than one in three people infected 
with SARS-CoV-2 develop long-term effects, and about one in ten suffers 
from long COVID. This new chronic illness can affect all organs and 
cause a wide variety of symptoms, including memory loss, sometimes 
invisible or delayed for several weeks or months after infection. 
Furthermore, the initial infection can be asymptomatic, making it 
difficult to establish a link with long COVID, especially in a medical 
context where denial of the illness persists.

Since the belated recognition of the phenomenon, it is the mobilization 
of patients themselves that has helped to shed light on this chronic and 
insidious illness. Groups of people affected by this disease are 
emerging, such as Winslow[5].

Since 2023, France has stopped counting COVID cases. The only available 
data are from 2020 and 2022 and the analysis of wastewater from the 
national monitoring system Sum'eau. To compensate for this lack of 
information, the ARRA association is conducting regional monitoring of 
this data, and the Winslow public health collective provides a wealth of 
articles and materials on COVID.

WINSLOW PUBLIC HEALTH
The state has abandoned thousands of people unable to return to work, 
neither recognized nor compensated. Faced with this ongoing pandemic, we 
cannot trust the political class and the capitalists. These are the same 
people who orchestrate drug shortages for profit. The virus management 
policy is now individualistic and ableist: it is up to "vulnerable" 
people to wear a mask, get vaccinated, avoid crowds... As 
revolutionaries, we must apply a certain discipline to our practices, 
and it is up to us to collectively build genuine health self-defense.

What to do?
When we organize collective events such as general assemblies or public 
meetings, mandatory mask-wearing (FFP2 and properly fitted) is effective 
in protecting ourselves collectively from COVID-19[6]. Ventilating the 
room is also essential to improve the quality of the air we breathe, and 
when possible, air purifiers can be installed, which prove effective at 
filtering the air[7]. It is also important to offer video conferencing 
for people who cannot travel. These measures, which may seem 
individualistic, are only effective when considered collectively. 
Wearing a mask also protects people who cannot wear one (for example, 
people who use respiratory assistance or have a motorized wheelchair 
controlled by mouth).

To implement this self-defense in public health, we can never rely on 
the State. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have seen the 
emergence of Mask Blocs in many cities in France. These groups advocate 
for daily self-defense in public health and promote the return of 
mask-wearing in public spaces (public transport, supermarkets, etc.). It 
is possible to contact them to obtain free FFP2 masks or air purifiers 
to ensure the safety of our public events. Finally, vaccination is still 
available, and still free! The 2025 winter campaign is underway and will 
run until January 31, 2026. Generally, you just need to ask for the 
vaccine at a pharmacy, most often without even needing an appointment.

These short-term efforts are a direct expression of class solidarity in 
risk reduction, but they are not real solutions. The problem is more 
structural, and this health crisis was unavoidable in our capitalist 
society. We see it in our workplaces and schools: nothing is being done 
to improve air quality and limit the spread of the virus. The 
government's attack on sick leave-claiming abuse-is a glaring example: 
workers now have the choice between losing wages or going to work sick 
and infecting their colleagues. The same applies to our schools: 
renovating ventilation systems would limit infections and, at the same 
time, reduce absenteeism[8]. It is up to us to incorporate these demands 
into all our struggles, in order to make health self-defense a truly 
political and collective issue.

Antoine (UCL Alsace)

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[1]"Covid-19 Pandemic: Where Do We Stand on Health Self-Defense?" 
"Alternative libertaire," December 2023.

[2]Phoenix Ketchum, "What COVID Has to Do with Eugenics," Medium.com, 
September 16, 2025.

[3]Florence Morin-Martel, "The COVID-19 Vaccine Will No Longer Be Free 
for Everyone This Fall," Le Devoir, September 17, 2025.

[4]"Global Prevalence of Long COVID, Its Subtypes, and Risk Factors: An 
Updated Systematic Review and Meta-analysis," OFID, Volume 12, Issue 9, 
September 2025.

[5]For more information, see the collective's website, Winslow.fr.

[6]B. Murdoch, "How the Denial of Airborne Transmission of COVID Broke 
the World," translation available on Winslow.fr.

[7]For more information, see the "Air Purifiers" page on the ARRA website.

[8]"Poor air quality in classrooms," The Irish Times, September 4, 2025.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Covid-19-Six-ans-de-pandemie-et-maintenant
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