In the United States, it is sobering to compare the Covid pandemic of 2020–21 with the great influenza pandemic of 1918–19. In the world of 1918, knowledge of viruses and vaccines was in its infancy. Health and medical institutions were rudimentary. The doctors and nurses struggled, often valiantly, and were usually overwhelmed. More than a hundred years later, in the world of 2020, the danger of a coming pandemic was predicted and publicized. Scientific knowledge was vastly more advanced. Health and medical institutions were vastly more extensive. The money available was also vast; the U.S.
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