The demonstrated lack of scientific agreement was not the problem. People are ok with that. The problem was that those who held the levers of power instituted p

The demonstrated lack of scientific agreement was not the problem. People are ok with that. The problem was that those who held the levers of power instituted polices as if there there was no disagreement. If you’re not sure whether community mask mandates will materially alter the trajectory of a pandemic, you can encourage masks, but you cannot — at least in a liberal democracy — require masks. Same goes for public messaging. If you’re not sure vaccinations will stop viral transmission in its tracks, you cannot claim it will, as Dr. Anthony Fauci did. Trust in public health authorities thus has been severely compromised, as well as trust in scientists who as a whole proved too much invested in marginal protections to their personal health and community standing, and too little in their role as dispassionate scientific observers.