What the COVID-19 pandemic reveals about science, policy and society

Abstract

The global COVID-19 pandemic of 2020–2021 required politicians to work alongside and depend on scientists more closely than any other event in recent times. It also saw science unfold in real time under intense public scrutiny. As a result, it highlighted as never before the ways in which science interacts with policy-making and with society, showing with sometimes painful clarity that science does not operate in a social or political vacuum. With the advent of vaccines against the coronavirus that has caused the pandemic, science has come to be seen as something of a saviour. But at other times and in other contexts it has also been cast as a villain and an inconvenience, and has run into stark conflict with political leadership. In this article, I consider these issues with particular reference to the situation in the UK—which, as with any nation, illustrated some considerations of more general applicability but also had aspects unique to this country. I argue that there are many lessons to be learnt, and that, as this is surely not the last infectious-disease crisis of such magnitude that the world will face, we must hope they will be heeded.

Global analysis of timely COVID-19 vaccinations: improving governance to reinforce response policies for pandemic crises

“…low provision of vaccines from manufacturing countries). One year later, in March 2022, Australia presented high levels of vaccination, equal to about 200 doses per 100 people, confirming the positive role of good governance in supporting policy responses to crisis management (Ball, 2021;Johns Hopkins Center for System Science and Engineering, 2022;Our World in Data, 2021). Table 3 also features countries with negative levels of governance that initially had very low levels of vaccinations (March 2021) and, one year later, reached about half the doses per 100 people of countries with good governance.…”

“…Our results suggest the positive effects of good governance in supporting the prompt administering of vaccinations, mitigating fatality rates. However, manifold confounding factors can affect the relation between governance and vaccination campaigns, such as health investments, vaccine supply, medical staff, medical technologies, communication, vaccine hesitancy, stringency of health policies, etc (Ball, 2021;LaFond et al, 2015;Phillips et al, 2017).…”

Technology matters to cope with unforeseen pandemics: low COVID-19 fatality in countries with high numbers of medical ventilators

“…To conclude, Ball (2021) argues that the diversity of pandemic outcomes and responses throughout the world makes it hard to draw any general conclusions about how science, technology, government, and society interact in contexts of pandemic crisis management (cf., Shattock et al, 2022). However, the ndings here propose a different general strategy of crisis management for future pandemic threats: little restrictions, transparent and consistent communication of rules, and especially high levels of investments in healthcare sectors focused on new technology of noninvasive medical ventilators to support the preparedness of countries with appropriate technology-oriented strategies, rather than strictness-oriented policies to cope with future pandemic threats by reducing overall negative effects on health of people.…”

“…Moreover, technological advancements (e.g., the development of mobile and non-invasive mechanical ventilators, high-speed signal processing system, higher e ciency and safety measures of the equipment to make them exible for different age group of patients --pediatric, adult, geriatric--and cost-effective devices) are driving the diffusion between countries. Studies show that the UK has applied policy responses with low strictness, but fatality rate of COVID-19 is similar or lower than countries with more restrictions (Ball, 2021;Birch, 2021;Kufel et al, 2022;Johns Hopkins Center for System Science and Engineering, 2022). One of the factors can be that the UK has high R&D investments and one of the top ventilator companies in the world: Smiths Group, founded in 1851 with the Smiths Medical that specializes in infusion therapy, artery access, and critical care, as well as other specialized goods and services.…”

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

“…Philip Ball takes a more critical view, showing how the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted—as never before—how science works and the ways in which science interacts with policymaking and with society [ 9 ]. He notes that how well a country has fared in avoiding illness and fatalities is, roughly speaking, uncorrelated with either its wealth or its scientific strength.…”