The Long Tail Continues

Back in spring 2020, when most of the world was still in some version of lockdown, we wrote in this space that the pandemic would have a “long tail” and that there would never come a moment when someone would blow an all-clear whistle signaling its end. More that two years later, the long tail continues and much, though not all, of the world is staggering forward toward some semblance of normalcy. Two facts remain: COVID is not done wit us yet as new sub-variants emerge seemingly every week (hence, the long tail), and a sizable part of the world is still chasing COVID Zero and so remaining very restricted (mostly China and east Asian countries). 

Euromonitor International, a global market research organization based in the EU, recently released its annual list of trends, and, notably, across 10 trends and more than two dozen pages, COVID-19 or the pandemic appear four times. We think this reflects wishful thinking more than sober realism. Yes, we are (and must) move beyond lockdowns and restrictions—sanity and economic reality requires that we do so—but one ignores or discounts the COVID long tail at one’s peril.