Was ‘following the science' a huge mistake during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Al Arabiya

03-04-2025

Was 'following the science' a huge mistake during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Five years ago, the world changed overnight. Streets emptied, doors shut, and uncertainty loomed for half the population of the planet living under lockdown.
What began as a temporary measure to control a global pandemic turned into a defining period of our lives.
We're still living with the social and economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and learning more about its physical and mental legacy.
And questions remain: Did lockdowns really save lives?
Why did health experts ignore existing advice on how to tackle a pandemic?
Were denials that the virus leaked from a Chinese lab actually false?
Did world leaders make the right decisions on whom to save?
And how did the response increase political polarisation and populism, while devastating trust in experts.
Two Princeton University political scientists tackled some of these provocative questions in a new book: 'In Covid's Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us.'
The answers the professors discovered will make uncomfortable reading for some of those in power during the pandemic.
Professor Frances Lee found it extraordinary that a World Health Organization report in 2019 strongly advised against lockdown measures.
'Among those were testing and contact tracing, quarantine, and border closure,' he said. 'And yet, six months later, all of these measures would be deployed globally against COVID, with policymakers saying that they were 'following the science.''
Co-author Professor Stephen Macedo believes claims that the virus originated from a live animal market in China were misleading.
'It does seem to me that the likelihood is that it emerged from a lab, from the lab in Wuhan, perhaps by a spill or perhaps manipulated. There are definite signs of a manipulated virus. There's very little question about that.'
Professor Macedo found that political polarisation during Donald Trump's first presidency may have impacted the rollout of vaccines.
'And there's even some evidence now that those who are developing the vaccines might have slowed down their development a little bit so that he would not be able to claim credit for them going into the 2020 election.'
Professor Lee discussed the long-term impacts of the pandemic measures, such as the effects on mental health, education, the economy and plummeting levels of trust.
'It exacerbated further the polarization that already existed in US politics. It drove down trust in government officials and in science agencies. It has driven down trust in universities and among experts generally. It helps to drive a populist backlash that has characterized US politics.'
Speaking on Al Arabiya News' Riz Khan Show, the professors emphasized the need for a comprehensive review and reckoning of the pandemic response, as well as the importance of involving a wider range of experts and the public in decision-making during future crises. Failure to do so could have cataclysmic consequences.