Illustration by Thomas Fuchs March 2022, ScientificAmerican.com 39As science journalists, it was not enough just to report
the facts and debunk misinformation—we had to
engage with the reasons people believe such falsehoods.
We learned to use the latest research on how misinfor-
mation spreads to try to expose lies without amplifying
them and replace conspiracy theories with truth.
All of this has played out against the backdrop of
vast inequities in access to vaccines and health care,
both nationwide and globally. One of the biggest les-
sons of the pandemic for many of us has been that rac-
ism, not race, explains why COVID has been even more
devastating for people of color.
The arrival of new viral variants further complicated
messaging. The mRNA vaccines achieved an effective-
ness beyond any expert’s wildest dreams. But their pro-
tection waned over time, and they have been less effec-
tive against the highly contagious Delta and Omicron
variants, prompting a return to mask wearing and a hast-
ily implemented booster shot campaign. As I write this,
Omicron is spreading rapidly and overwhelming hospi-
tals because it is so transmissible. As journalists, all we
can do is try to make sense of the evidence as it develops,
hope in hindsight we made the right call, and remind
readers it’s normal, not bad, to update our knowledge as
the virus—and our understanding of it—evolves.
Reporting on COVID has fundamentally changed the
way I approach science journalism. I have gained a
deeper appreciation for scientific knowledge as a process,
not merely an end result. I have seen that it is not enough
to simply follow the science—that skepticism of author-
ity is warranted even when that authority comes from
respected public health experts. And I have learned that
science is always political—despite what many scientists
like to think. These lessons have been won at a terrible
expense. But failing to heed them could doom us to
repeat this tragedy when the next pandemic comes.Tanya Lewis is a senior health and medicine editor at Scientific American.
She co-hosts a biweekly podcast, COVID Quickly, with fellow senior
medicine editor Josh Fischman.