Fighting COVID like a girl

In the era of gatekeeping and gaslighting, these women show everyone who’s girlboss.This International Women’s Month, we’re celebrating the COVID-fighting, nation-leading, and child-bearing individuals who make this pandemic-struck world a whole lot safer to live in.

Women can, and they will

Fun fact: Women make up about 70% of the global health workforce. So the next time a man puts you down, remind them of the numbers, and who the real heavy lifters of the pandemic are.

Some more proof: Nepal mobilized more than 50,000 female volunteers last year. Before the war, Ukrainian women made up 83% of healthcare workers despite poor working conditions. 

In Pakistan, female health workers go house-to-house to deliver much needed COVID vaccines. 

Why women? Other women from conservative households that can’t speak to men say: “Why not?”

But that’s the least of their problems. In Hindubasti, residents believe vaccines could kill their sex drive or kill them, period. 

Namra, a 21-year-old health worker, aims to debunk myths like this. Though it was hard for her to convince them to get vaccinated at first, residents eventually lined up for a shot when they saw others doing it too.

They’re expensive, but door-to-door vaccinations get the job done. Much like with Pakistan’s past polio campaign, these drives—and the women who lead them—are vital to battling misinformation and disease among millions where it matters most—the community.

World leaders up EQ and estrogen

It’s not like the rest of the world are strangers to prominent female leaders either.  

Jacinda Ardern has been infamous for her tight restrictions which have been to thank for New Zealand’s COVID-free 2021. Omicron spared no one though, not even the Prime Minister herself as she had to cancel her own wedding earlier this year.

Before the onslaught of new variants and the wholly different plague of COVID fatigue (see also: third-world countries only wish they could relate), woman-led Germany, Finland, and Taiwan had their moments too. 

Chancellor Angela Merkel served a masterclass in health communication resulting in Germany’s lower death rates for a while. Sanna Marin, Finland’s third female Prime Minister and the world’s youngest state leader to date, followed suit but with social media influencers. Now they are 76% fully vaccinated—one of the highest rates in the EU. 

Though Taiwan is not part of the UN and WHO, President Tsai Ing-wen held her ground against the bigger kids at the playground as well. Fighting for sovereignty is one thing, but achieving one of the world’s best COVID responses through world-class contact tracing and SARS experience at the same time is another. 

In the Philippines, Vice President Leni Robredo pulled something similar. Despite a limited budget and pressure from the powers that be, Robredo’s office mounted notable initiatives to remedy overwhelmed hospitals and low vaccinations, all while getting the top audit grade for three straight years.

Of course, this doesn’t automatically mean that all women are better leaders. But if higher estrogen means higher EQ, which current world leaders need more of, then so be it. More (male!) authoritarians could take notes from them, unless they want to lose more people, money, and credibility to this pandemic.

Mother knows—and fights COVID—best

Back in June 2020, my sister gave birth to her second baby. I stayed with them at the hospital because I had just gotten my flu shot, making me “immune” enough to look after them (spoiler: I got COVID the month after, but that’s another story). In the early days before flexing Pfizer shots became a thing, it was all we could bank on to protect my newborn niece.

Now, as more mothers get vaccinated and breastfeed during and after infection, babies are getting tougher against the virus. When my sister’s family caught COVID in January, my 19-month-old niece was able to recover from mild symptoms in a few days. 

Babies like her who are still breastfed benefit from milk boosted with immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies. These come from disease- and vaccine-acquired immunity, respectively. These antibodies were also shown to last up to three months after infection and vaccination. 

What’s more, moms who felt sicker after their shots passed on more antibodies to their kids, according to another study. Weighing in the other benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and child, it’s practically nature’s way of saying Mom has our back.

As it turns out, women are not only inclined to fight COVID as health workers and presidents. Their biology makes this possible too. 

As Beyoncé best put: “Who run the world? Girls!”