Sturmberg J. auteur aut IRD Paul E. auteur aut IRD Van Damme W. auteur aut IRD Ridde Valéry auteur aut IRD Brown G. W. auteur aut IRD Kalk A. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie showed how a single story is limited and thereby distorts the true nature of an issue. During this COVID-19 pandemic there have been, at least, three consecutive single stories-the 'lethal threat' story, followed by the 'economic threat' story, and finally the 'vaccine miracle' story. None of these single stories can convincingly and permanently capture the dynamics of the pandemic. This is because countries experienced different morbidity and mortality patterns, different socioeconomic disadvantage, age and vulnerability of population, timing and level of lockdown with economic variability, and, despite heavy promotion, vaccines were beset with a significant and variable degree of hesitancy. Lack of transparency, coherence and consistency of pandemic management-arising from holding on to single storylines-showed the global deficiency of public health policy and planning, an underfunding of (public) health and social services, and a growing distrust in governments' ability to manage crises effectively. Indeed, the global management has increased already large inequities, and little has been learnt to address the growing crises of more infectious and potentially more lethal virus mutations. Holding onto single stories prevents the necessary learnings to understand and manage the complexities of 'wicked' problems, whereas listening to the many stories provides insights and pathways to do so effectively as well as efficiently. specialized complexity science COVID-19 epidemiology health policies SARS-CoV-2 056 052 28 6 1173-1186 2022 1356-1294 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010083381 10.1111/jep.13640 1356-1294 [F B010083381] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010083381 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2023-06/010083381.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2022-01-12 2025-02-24 fdi:010083381 fre