Rescuing science from politics
We need a truly non-partisan Covid Commission that will sift through the story of the pandemic


The Covid pandemic witnessed an extraordinary politicization of science. Masking up in parks became a sign of being on the right side of reason. Cities and unions insisted on keeping schools closed long after it became clear that the danger to school-age kids was minimal, claiming they were following the science. Epidemiologists warned about the dangers of mass gatherings, even outdoors, then backed away from the warnings to leave room for racial justice protests, because racism was a health emergency. Questions about the origins of Covid, most especially any suggestion that it could have been accidentally released from a laboratory in Wuhan, were dismissed as a conspiracy theory (it isn't) and racist (it isn't that either). Any debate on lockdowns, or the projections for deaths that justified them, was shut down with "trust the science." And on the right, lawmakers recklessly dismissed the value of vaccines — a strange reversal on an actual scientific breakthrough for which the Trump administration could claim credit.
Covid ended up killing more than 1.1 million Americans, and there is every reason to get a full accounting of the pandemic. Unfortunately, this week's congressional hearings are not giving us that. The circus of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) telling Anthony Fauci, the nation's Covid response chief, that he should be imprisoned for mass murder evidenced zero real truth-seeking effort. There is value in tracing the history of the virus and reckoning with the pandemic's failures and successes. But we are missing our chance. After the Kennedy assassination — as fertile a soil for paranoia as is imaginable — the nonpartisan Warren Commission made a heroic and largely successful effort to untangle fact from speculation. A similar Covid Commission now could go a long way toward restoring faith in science and resolving the pandemic's many lingering questions. It's a sign of just how damaged our science and politics have become that nobody has even dared to ask for that.
This is the editor's letter in the current issue of The Week magazine.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Mark Gimein is a managing editor at the print edition of The Week. His work on business and culture has appeared in Bloomberg, The New Yorker, The New York Times and other outlets. A Russian immigrant, and has lived in the United States since the age of five, and now lives in Brooklyn with his wife and son.
-
What does the Le Pen verdict mean for the future of French politics?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION Convicted of embezzlement and slapped with a five year ban on running for public office, where does arch-conservative Marine Le Pen go from here — and will the movement she leads follow?
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Discount stores were thriving. How did they stumble?
The Explainer Blame Walmart — and inflation
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Kaja Kallas: the EU's new chief diplomat shaping the future of European defense
In the Spotlight Former Estonian Prime Minister's status as an uncompromising Russia hawk has gone from liability to strength
By David Faris Published
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff Published
-
The EPA: Let’s forget about climate change
Feature You’ll miss the EPA when it’s been gutted, said former EPA heads
By The Week US Published
-
Schumer: Did he betray the Democrats?
Feature 'Schumer had only bad political options'
By The Week US Published
-
'There is a certain kind of strength in refusing to concede error'
instant opinion 'Opinion, comment and editorials of the day'
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Trump's TPS takedown
Feature The president plans to deport a million immigrants with protected status. What effects will that have?
By The Week US Published
-
Musk: Is Trump putting him on a leash?
Feature Elon Musk’s aggressive government cuts are facing backlash from Trump’s Cabinet
By The Week US Published
-
SCOTUS: A glimmer of independence?
Feature The Supreme Court rejects Trump’s request to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid payments
By The Week US Published
-
DOGE: Wielding a hatchet at the VA
Feature The Trump administration has cut thousands of Veteran Affairs jobs and is considering eliminating 80,000 more
By The Week US Published