THE ROLE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES IN TIME OF COVID-19

Maricar P. Musni

Our lives changed drastically started this March, as the government declared a lockdown in response to the health crisis. This virus is lethal and contagious until a cure or a vaccine will be developed, we cannot go back to our normal lives.

One would think that getting the pandemic under control is primarily a job for medical science, but the social sciences also have a big role to play for the recovery from it.

Social science does not produce the vaccine itself but having a socio-scientific mindset is important in administering them. Through insights and analysis, social science can help with strategising administration of public health protocols and mass vaccinations, as well as making sure that there will be follow through. Medical science can produce the vaccine while social science can take care of human behaviours that will maximise its effectivity.

Social science can also help amplify the voices of those who are currently being affected by the pandemic. This pandemic does not only affect those who were infected by the virus, but also the people who lost their jobs because they are required to stay at home. Making sure that these people are heard, and that assistance is extended to them is also social work.

As we soon recover from the effects of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, social science is also heavily involved in recalibrating national priorities such as the resilience of our financial and medical institutions, the capacity of our social welfare and security, addressing social and economic inequalities, and overall disaster response.

While the pandemic is something that no one expected, it is interesting to note that working towards recovery is not just the responsibility of medical science, but of all of us.

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The author is Teacher I at Marcelo H. Del Pilar National High School