This sounds more like reading news selectively reporting whatever is most engaging. From the mask stuff to the vaccine boosters there wasn't much serious doubt

This sounds more like reading news selectively reporting whatever is most engaging. From the mask stuff to the vaccine boosters there wasn't much serious doubt among scientists (yes I'm sure you can find somebody and some comment). I'm not sure what can really be expected of politicians (who aren't scientists) or scientists (who are public figures), much less reporters. The booster trials literally started as soon as the first EUV was issued, because they were expected to be more effective. They didn't invest in it because they thought it was unnecessary. The EUV was necessary because the disease is wide spread, communicable, and deadly enough to overwhelm ICUs, otherwise epidemiologists would prefer to have even more data. However, when the risk to your patient of actual illness is more than an order of magnitude higher without action... you take emergency action. I hear similar stuff from engineers who now are looking for even more data on the effectiveness of masks, because they've read reports saying they aren't effective, or questioning studies saying that they are. The germ theory of disease hasn't been disproven. People don't wear masks well. Cloth masks aren't very effective protection (of the person wearing them) due to bypass flow. Viruses can enter through the eyes as well, so a mask can never be "perfect". Masks and glasses also protect (if you bother to wash your hands) from accidental surface contacts. At the same time there are doctors/nurses working in ICUs intubating COVID patients for months without getting exposed... that's an (uncontrolled) experiment running in thousands of places. It's not published, but it's known to be effective by people working there. The PPE is expensive and training along with diligence is required, because even if you're vaccinated you can spread it just not as likely and not as much and not as long (another long chain of but, but, buts... which add up to more than an order of magnitude).