March 2021 marked the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization officially declaring COVID-19 a pandemic and of pandemic-related restrictions for many places in the world. To mark the moment, we asked our supporters what ending COVID-19 looks like to them. Almost 3,000 responses later, we learned that our supporters had a lot to say, so we decided to share it with the world.
Here’s how it went.
Campaign origins
At the end of 2020, almost a full year since the first reported cases of COVID-19, ONE emailed our global supporters to ask them, “What does ending COVID-19 mean to you?” Responses came in from around the world — from South Africa and Argentina, to the United Kingdom, Nigeria, and beyond — with people sharing what ending the pandemic means and looks like to them.
We then shared some of the responses on our social channels to kick-start a conversation among our global followers at the start of 2021.
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In total, ONE received around 3,000 responses from our supporters around the world!
Kicking off #EndingCOVID19
On 1 March 2021, to mark the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 restrictions, we picked five answers to the question, “What does ending COVID-19 mean to you?” from our global supporters and shared them on a graphic during the first week of March. Each day featured a new supporter’s answer and linked back to one of ONE’s current campaigns — asking the G20 to suspend debt repayments, demanding a global response to COVID-19, and more.
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We also featured a different ONE staff member from one of our global offices each day on our Instagram stories. They shared who they are, what they’re currently working on at ONE, what this last year of remote working has meant to them, and what ending COVID-19 means to them, too.
The campaign concluded on 5 March 2021, with ONE looking back at a staff vlog from March 2020, to highlight what life was like a year ago when the pandemic first started.
What supporters had to say
No matter where our supporters are from, we noticed many are looking forward to some of the same things.
One of the most common things our global supporters are looking forward to after the pandemic is spending time with loved ones again. We received around 500 messages from supporters who shared that seeing their loved ones again in a post-COVID world is what they are looking forward to the most when the pandemic ends. For Ana in Portugal, ending COVID-19 means, “I get to hug my loved ones again… never again will I take physical proximity and cuddles and kisses for granted!”
The second most popular thing our supporters are looking forward to is traveling. ONE received over 190 responses from global supporters who are looking forward to traveling in some capacity again when the COVID-19 pandemic is over. Specifically for Lauren in South Africa, ending COVID-19 means, “We can all finally travel where we want to and meet up with friends, family, and partners!”
What we’ve learned is that no matter where people are in the world, we all have the same hopes when looking towards a world after COVID-19. And everyone deserves access to the COVID-19 vaccine to make that a reality, but right now, it is unlikely that everyone, everywhere will receive vaccines until 2022 or later.
Next steps
While having safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines gets us closer to ending the pandemic, our work still isn’t done. The race to ensure global access to vaccines is underway. The pandemic will only end when everyone, everywhere has access to vaccines, starting with the most vulnerable.
