Why Is Science Not Trusted as Much After the COVID-19 Pandemic?


Public health missteps during the COVID-19 pandemic affected public trust in science. The&nbsp;Pew polls&nbsp;have shown a 14-point reduction in Americans&rsquo; confidence in scientists from 73% pre-pandemic in January 2019 to 57% in October 2023 after the pandemic. In a&nbsp;video,&nbsp;Vinay Prasad, MD, a health researcher, explained that this distrust was because scientists failed to address the uncertainties around the regulations and missteps taken in response to the pandemic. Prasad, a University of California San Francisco physician and researcher, is only one of many who question the government&rsquo;s response to the pandemic. TrialSite had&nbsp;previously&nbsp;reported on a major US mainstream media outlet critiquing aspects of the US government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, we examine Prasad&rsquo;s claims about why science is not trusted as much after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vinay Prasad, MD, is a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics. He works as a hematologist oncologist and runs a laboratory called the&nbsp;VK Prasad Laboratory, which focuses on researching cancer drugs, clinical trials and health policies for better decision-making. During a 50-minute lecture in the Netherlands/Curacao entitled &ldquo;The COVID-19 Pandemic: When Scientists Abandon Science,&rdquo; Prasad highlighted the &ldquo;COVID-19 errors&rdquo; he felt the government health organizations had made that contributed to the distrust in science.