Many of the areas with the highest levels of social deprivation are also the most exposed to air pollution and this link is also more pronounced for people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Further research is urgently needed to fully understand the link between poor air quality and covid-19, which the Government has now accepted. However, notwithstanding the causal link between air quality and covid-19 mortality and morbidity, there was already a strong, established, case for taking action to reduce health inequalities caused and exacerbated by air pollution. That the communities most affected are often those that make the smallest contribution to the problem increases the moral case for action. Reducing long-term health inequalities will require both ‘across the board’ and targeted measures. Defra, working with the Department of Health and Social Care and local health partners, should amend the Clean Air Strategy to include measures to reduce the long-term health inequalities associated with air pollution.