One of the many troubling consequences of the COVID pandemic has been a resurgent anti-vaccine movement, brought to unprecedented prominence by the misnamed “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) campaign. Chock-full of tort lawyers, alternative health gurus and a handful of wayward physicians, MAHA gained an enormous following among Americans who were frustrated with COVID-19 mask mandates and lockdowns—which were inconsistently enforced for political reasons and often carried severe consequences that were downplayed or ignored by mainstream science, even as evidence of their harms mounted. “Adverse effects of stringent public health measures include financial downturn, unemployment, mental illness, child abuse, domestic violence, hunger, and disruption to education, child development, immunization programs, contraception, and family planning,” the authors of a July 2021 paper in BMC Infectious Diseases wrote.

Many researchers argue that these severe measures were well-intended attempts to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2, but public health officials did a poor job of justifying their implementation. For instance, mass protesting and rioting in the summer of 2020 — before COVID vaccines had been authorized — were endorsed by “dozens of public health and disease experts,” according to NPR, while most other activities were prohibited in the name of minimizing viral transmission. “[A]s public health advocates, we do not condemn these gatherings as risky for COVID-19 transmission,” an open letter signed by these experts declared. “We support them as vital to the national public health …”

Adding fuel to the outrage fire, scientists who criticized these inconsistent infection-control measures were censored by social media platforms under pressure from the federal government. This environment helped birth the MAHA movement, which with RFK, Jr. at the helm has accelerated its broader opposition to conventional medicine—most notably well-studied pediatric vaccines that have a long track record of preventing infectious disease and saving lives.

The history of the COVID-19 pandemic is a painful narrative with a lot of lessons to teach, if we’re willing to learn them. As health scientist Jess Steier recently explained, “It’s a story about what happens when public health policy collides with deeply held American values about autonomy and skepticism of authority—and how even well-intentioned overreach can have consequences that last far longer than the crisis that justified it.”

The ultimate solution to the excesses of the MAHA movement is a stronger bond between scientists and the general public. But rebuilding that relationship requires transparent communication, acknowledging uncertainty, and fostering open debate rather than dogmatic mandates. Above all else, the fallout from COVID policies underscores the need for humility in public health to prevent further erosion of credibility and the rise of reactionary movements like MAHA.

Join Dr. Liza Dunn and Cam English on this episode of Facts and Fallacies as they discuss the lessons scientists are learning from the pandemic:

Dr. Liza Dunn is a medical toxicologist and the medical affairs lead at Bayer Crop Science. Follow her on X @DrLizaMD

Cameron J. English is the director of bio-sciences at the American Council on Science and Health. Follow him on X @camjenglish