Discussion: Mental health and ‘pandemic fatigue’ ahead of the holidays

On Monday, it was a badly needed dose of hope as news broke about a second experimental COVID-19 vaccine — this one from Moderna — yielding extraordinarily strong early results as the global pandemic enters a terrible new phase.

Moderna said its vaccine appears to be 94.5% effective, according to preliminary data from an ongoing study. A week ago, competitor Pfizer announced its own vaccine looked 90% effective.

A vaccine can’t come fast enough, as virus cases topped 11 million in the US over the weekend — 1 million of them recorded in just the past week — and governors and mayors are ratcheting up restrictions ahead of Thanksgiving. The outbreak has killed more than 1.3 million people worldwide, over 246,000 of them in the US.

Health experts believe the virus is surging because of private social gatherings, colder temperatures driving people inside and a growing weariness with COVID-19 restrictions around the world that have now been in place in many cases for more than six months.

The coronavirus crisis is leading to mental health and lockdown fatigue. How are people coping with ongoing needs to social distance, wear masks and stay at home?

How might these measures be impacted by upcoming holiday gatherings in the US and around the world?

As part of our regular conversation series on the coronavirus, The World’s Elana Gordon moderated a discussion with psychiatric epidemiologist Karestan Koenen, presented in partnership with The Forum and Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The AP contributed to this post.