...For much of the pandemic, the scientific establishment and the COVID-cautious public were largely aligned in their desires to contain COVID-19. But as many officials argue for a more moderate approach to living with the virus, COVID-cautious individuals are increasingly the loudest voices calling for continued precautions—and, sometimes, lashing out at the scientists they feel have abandoned the cause. ...”
Some experts, however, feel they’re in a lose-lose situation, accused of fear mongering one moment and abandoning America’s most vulnerable the next. Experts “feel attacked from all sides,” says Katelyn Jetelina, who writes the popular Your Local Epidemiologist newsletter—and as a result, she fears some will stop trying to communicate at all, further fracturing the already strained relationship between scientists and the public.
...
