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The speed of the COVID-19 outbreak has forced humanity to conduct research, craft policies, and make decisions at an unprecedented rate, outside of wartime. The pandemic has highlighted and amplified some of the cracks in these processes. I present evidence of these failings in my book, The State of Science. COVID-19 is truly a wicked problem. Because of its contradictory, incomplete, intertwined, and rapidly changing components, the pandemic seems resistant to resolution.
Epidemiologists have been predicting and preparing for a viral outbreak such as COVID-19 for many years. Live animal markets, which can act as viral mixing bowls; increased world travel; and population density have made a pandemic pretty much inevitable. Despite this, we weren’t ready. The combined budgets of federal agencies that might have funded and conducted research to better prepare the US for this situation—specifically the National Institutes of Health and the National Science ...
