Politics in the Low Countries in COVID-19 Times

Russo, Luana Reuchamps, Min [UCL]

When the first wave of COVID-19 hit the world in the spring of 2020, it quickly became clear that this virus would become a major worldwide crisis. Unfortunately, as opposed to the SARS outbreak in 2002-2003, COVID-19 did not disappear over summer, forcing countries to longer-term containment strategies, some of which continue to be in place till today. This prolonged state of emergency has had heavy consequences not only on countries’ health systems but also on their politics, since the governance of such a major crisis had to rely on extraordinary policies that needed to be created ad hoc. All countries had to enforce some level of limitation to freedom of movement, while, at the same time, sustaining their national economy and employment levels to shoulder the – present and future – financial burden of the pandemic. Once vaccines became available, governments had to both organise an effective, fast and fair system in terms of group prioritisation, vaccine acquisition, distribution and administration, and persuading its citizens to get vaccinated. In other words, the political implications of the COVID-19 pandemic posed political questions and challenges at multiple levels: How long is it acceptable to restrain the free movement of citizens? To what extent can vaccination be enforced? Do some containment strategies violate citizens’ privacy? How to deal with citizens who refuse to be vaccinated (especially those that work in healthcare)?