This fascinating and timely book examines the distressing psychological syndrome of 'cabin fever' in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the greatest confinement of people to their homes in history, offering antidotes for it. Exploring the definitions and social and cultural history of cabin
fever, a condition provoked by prolonged isolation, the book will be of interest to anyone concerned about the impact of current or any future pandemic lockdowns, prison life, remote living, or even travelling to Mars.
Providing a sociological analysis of the policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic in England, this study places particular analytical emphasis on the interplay between powerful structural interests and the influence on the development of COVID-19 policy. Considering a range of actors, (including the
government, scientific experts and the medical profession, the media, and the public) and the nature of their relationships with one another, the authors identify the key sociological aspects that have shaped, facilitated, challenged, or constrained COVID-19 policy in England.
Drawing on published documentary material, the authors first examine government attempts to contain, delay, mitigate 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 shifts on to vaccination policy and the actors central in 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 furthermore considers vaccine coverage, vaccine passports, and vaccine nationalism. The authors conclude with a discussion of the overall impact of COVID-19 policy on health and between socio-economic groups and with reflections on the sociologies of pandemics and COVID-19.
This book will appeal and be accessible both to policymakers and health service managers and to those studying for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the social, medical, and public health sciences.