Power, Policy and the Pandemic: A Sociological Analysis of COVID-19 Policy in England

This book sociologically analyses the policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic in England. The approach places particular analytical emphasis on the interplay between powerful structural interests and the influence on the development of COVID-19 policy. Looking across a range of actors (including the government, scientific experts and the medical profession, commercial actors, the media, and the public) and the nature of their relationships with one another, our overall aim is to identify the key sociological aspects that have shaped, influenced, facilitated, or constrained COVID-19 policy in England. Drawing on published documentary material, it first examines government attempts to contain, mitigate, delay and suppress the spread of the coronavirus with non-pharmaceutical interventions in the absence of a vaccine (during the first wave) and then whilst vaccines were being gradually rolled out (during the second wave and third waves). The focus then is on vaccination policy and the actors central to the design and implementation of the vaccination programme in England. The approach taken to the funding, development, and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines is also explored and considers vaccine coverage, vaccine hesitancy, and inequalities in take-up between social groups. The book concludes with an assessment of the relative success of the policies on health, social, and economic levels drawing on comparative analysis of successes and failures of policies adopted globally.