We have news from the Department of Not Great: Belief in misinformation has not improved since the introduction of COVID vaccines. In fact, it’s gotten worse. And it’s spreading to ideas about other vaccines.
The story arises from a reconsideration of evidence by the U.S. Department of Energy. The DoE used to think it unlikely that COVID started in a lab. But based on undisclosed intelligence, it now says that it did, more likely than not.
You can guess from that last sentence that this is not a firm conclusion. And indeed, it’s not. The DoE says that it has “low confidence” in its theory. To my knowledge, none of the other U.S. intelligence agencies have said they have conclusive evidence one way or another.
In fact, news reports are that the intelligence community is divided on this question. Some say COVID had natural origins, some say it didn’t.
