Confused by Covid Science? It’s not just you.
Sometimes it seems that the scientific understanding of the coronavirus is changing by the hour.
The virus was thought to spread only through close contact or on contaminated surfaces, then it was found to be airborne. Americans don’t have to wear a mask. Wait, they do. Booster shots may not be necessary, at least not for a long time – until they are highly recommended.
We live with science as it unfolds in real time, our colleague Apoorva Mandavill reported this week. The process has always been fluid and unpredictable. Rarely did it move at this speed, and seldom was it so crucial to pay close attention.
To some frustrated Americans, public health officials sometimes seemed to flip-flop — or even deliberately mislead the country.
Consider CDC mask guidelines In the early weeks and months of the pandemic, officials said masks were not necessary for the general public, in part to conserve supplies for frontline workers, as Times Opinion columnist Zeynep Tufekci noted. Months later, the agency reneged on his advice.
Then, in May 2020, the agency said vaccinated people could throw away their masks, but didn’t emphasize enough that masks might be needed again. Now, with a new wave of infections, they are.
A central problem, Apoorva said, is the relatively low level of scientific literacy in the US. “We also don’t really talk about health as a public good, as a community purpose,” she added. “It’s not the same as deciding to exercise or eat well, which are very individual activities. Infectious disease is by definition something that connects people.”
“This would not happen if public health authorities had properly educated the public from the start,” she said. “You can’t really get into a pandemic without ever talking about these things before and expecting people to understand everything and get on board.”
