Introduction

The chapter begins with an overview of the health consequences of COVID-19, including how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted mental health consequences and sleep behaviors. This introductory chapter by the volume's editors introduces the principal themes in the social epidemiology of COVID-19. First, the authors review the current state of knowledge about the infection dynamics of the SARS-Cov-2 virus, and how it intersects with the social world, including who is at greatest risk of exposure, and who is susceptible to severe disease and death. Two years into the pandemic, it was painstakingly obvious that the COVID-19 pandemic had exacerbated health disparities in the United States and worldwide. Globally, the pandemic has set back progress in poverty reduction, under-5 child mortality, and malnutrition. Within both poor and rich countries, the burden of COVID-19 has fallen most heavily on the most disadvantaged groups in society. The chapter provides an overview of how the pandemic intersects with nearly every social determinant of health-ranging from socioeconomic status (occupation, income, and education), race/ethnicity, gender, immigrant status, to neighborhood contexts, working conditions, social connectedness, and macroeconomic forces including income inequality. The detailed connections between each social determinant and COVID-related outcomes are elaborated in the chapters to follow.