The COVID-19 pandemic: when science collided with politics, culture and the human imagination

Abstract

As the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to disrupt life around the world, the pandemic has provided a mirror with which to review the relationship between science, policymaking and society. It reflects the more successful aspects of the response to COVID-19, such as the remarkable speed of vaccine development, some perplexing features, such as anti-vaccine sentiment, the efficacy, public acceptance and political influence of epidemiology, and more.There is no better perspective to gaze through this looking glass than from the viewpoint of the Science Museum Group, a cultural institution which acts as a nexus for government, industry, the charitable sector and the public, along with the past, present and future of science, engineering and innovation [1].Museums can offer unique perspectives on the spread of infectious disease [2]. Their collections and scholarship reveal the lessons of the past, such as the historic debates over the benefits and risks of vaccination [3]. Moreover, through collecting contemporary objects along with exhibitions and events, museums can shed light on how science can shape our future, whether through the development of new therapeutics, monitoring the evolution of a virus, or by modelling. They can also show how we, in turn, can shape science.The pandemic has also driven the evolution of museums, compelling them along with many other organizations to engage with audiences online and to go beyond traditional 'material culture', where stories are told through objects, to find new ways to inform audiences about the threat posed by this invisible enemy and the scientific response.To reflect the greatest global health crisis in a generation, the five museums that form the Science Museum Group have launched their largest ever collecting project, which has acquired the first doses of COVID vaccine given in the UK, testing kits and the signs used in government briefings among many other things.The Group has hosted a series of well-attended virtual events, involving leading figures such as Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to the President of the United States of America; Sarah Gilbert of the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford; Kate Bingham former chair of the UK Government's Vaccine Taskforce; and Chris Whitty [4], Chief Medical Officer to England. The Group has published more than 120 000 words about COVID-19 in blogs that aimed to share the latest expert knowledge with the public on a range of themes, from the use of organoids [5] and AI [6] to the rollout of vaccines [7].The Science Museum itself hosted the world's first Global Vaccine Confidence Summit and an NHS vaccination centre [8], where thousands of people were inoculated, including the Health Secretary and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The group is now working on an exhibition about the hunt for an effective COVID-19 vaccine with the National Museums of Scotland, National Council of Science Museums India, and the Guangdong Science Centre and its network in China.Both this journal and the museums act as a melting pot for ideas...

Coronavirus pandemic as a universal catalyst of identification political processes in the states of The Associated Trio

“…In such a way, the leaders of states expect to prevent an uncontrolled growth of infection with the smallest set of compromise measures. As a result, the government's strategy should be to search for targeted restrictions in order to minimize the population's irritation and overburdening of the economy [11]. This is the search for a balance between freedom and security: citizens and the ruling elite decide what to sacrifice on the basis of their beliefs and views.…”