The covid-19 pandemic has been referred to as one of the most impacting, mass disabling events in the recent public health history, emphasizing the long-term direct effect on those experiencing the disease and the implications for health policy and planning . alternatively, the term “mass deteriorating event” has been proposed, considering the long-term consequences of covid-19 may present via a broad range of symptoms, from feelings that your health was better before the infection to permanent impairment . long-term effects, referred to as long-covid or post-acute sequelae of sars-cov-2 infection (pasc), need a multidisciplinary research approach to inform the prevention and care of those affected . however, the influence of pandemics are potentially disruptive, directly and indirectly affecting the population’s health . the covid-19 pandemic might not be different from other pandemics, but there is still a long pathway to go through in order to evaluate if covid-19 impact will be worse. beyond the immense numbers of acute and pasc cases and deaths, the covid-19 pandemic is likely to have also affected the delivery of preventive programs, such as immunization and cancer screening, as well as the continuous care of chronic conditions, such as diabetes . the magnitude of such indirect effects on the population’s health is still to be verified. however, a modeling study suggests that, without adequate mitigation strategies, a 12-month delay to mass drug administration due to the covid-19 pandemic could result in up to a 2- to 3-year delay in reaching the agreed public health targets for some neglected tropical diseases, such as schistosomiasis, trachoma, lymphatic filariasis, and onchocerciasis