Since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, observers have been talking about the “egalitarian” nature of the virus. ‘Covid-19 doesn’t discriminate’ has been a common refrain. But while the virus itself may have common effects across populations, the pandemic and its consequences are far from equally shared.

As with many public health challenges, the effects and costs of the pandemic are distributed unequally, with marginalized individuals and groups often asked to do the most while facing a higher likelihood of becoming ill.

It may comfort us to say we’re all in this together. But that isn’t quite true, leaving us to ask: Whose pandemic is this?

On this bonus episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Arjumand Siddiqi, Canada Research Chair in Population Health Equity and Associate Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.