The very title of Laura Spinney's work is a sad reflection of how preferences for pandemic control quickly coincide along traditional political boundaries along the disadvantages of all (five years since the pandemic, the right fake symbiosis story was turbocharged to the mainstream on March 9th). If the right is found guilty of undermining science and scientists, I have observed throughout the pandemic how the left shows a disturbing enthusiasm to limit freedom, using fear and guilt to promote compliance with control measures, and many argued to extend restrictions beyond where they are doing good.
I have experience in how Covid control measures in the NHS have been dismantled only at the snail pace after the greatest danger has passed, prolonging the impact of the pandemic on the health of the country.
School closures and enacted segregation have contributed significantly to mental health issues and the social isolation that everyone faces. The vaccine was an impressive achievement and saved many lives, but the NHS has witnessed a stupid, time-consuming attempt to vaccinate all staff. This was abandoned in the 11th hour, but some staff had already left rather than having the vaccine they were distrusting.
The nation's general overreach during the pandemic has sadly led to less trust in many trust in official health guidance, particularly on vaccines. Rather than holding the political enemy accountable with false narrative accusations, all societies need to experience honest self-reflection and try to understand the opinions of people who disagree with us.
Dr. Aodan Bresnach
Consultant Medical Microbiologist (And a former infection control doctor)St. George's Hospital in London
I agree with Laura Spinney that we need to do something about the negative narrative that has evolved during the pandemic. A reasonable person reading empirical evidence would certainly agree that the magic bullets of containment and vaccination in the first instance saved us from many deaths in the UK, even if mistakes were made, as Spinney says.
I don't know how to silence the pandemic, particularly the conspiracy theories about vaccines. Do you read empirical evidence and interpret it favorably apart from scientists, epidemiologists, and guardian readers like me? The great Barrington Declaration, signed by scholars, of how society's irrationality and intrigue can be overcome, was when even the walls of the ivory tower were reduced.
Desmond Hewitt
Marlboro, Wiltshire
For example, populist vaccine deniers posting on Facebook have had to go further recently. They claim that there are no microorganisms and no viruses or bacteria. Therefore, the entire world of healthcare is a scam and a vast global conspiracy for profit. Vaccines are a deadly tool created to cull the population as part of the secret New World Order's purpose of conquering humanity.
It is not normal to swallow this nonsense in the face of evidence. The far-right politicians succeed in pseudo-science summarizing these delusions into one thing – destroying the nation. It's better to do something about pouring poison from social media and then immediately.
Richard Banning
Tiverton, Devon
