COVID-19 and health inequalities: lessons for pandemic disasters yet to come

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic poses unique challenges as long-standing health disparities and social inequalities play out before our eyes whenas unsustainable healthcare infrastructures and this pandemic COVID-19 collide. At this moment, COVID-19 offers social scientists a reflection point for understanding and reimagining new equitable structures to address the needs of our society. This special issue—COVID-19, Health and Society: Lessons for Pandemic Disasters Yet to Come—presents a collection of papers that advance our understanding of the structural forces that impact the health and well-being of vulnerable populations and prevent the social change needed to build safer, healthier, and more resilient communities.