4 major mistakes the experts made about COVID despite saying they would 'follow the science'

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Dr. Robert Redfield: Clearly the origin of COVID was a leak from the Wuhan lab

Former CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield gives his take on new revelations about the COVID lab leak theory on 'The Story.'

"Follow the science" became the mantra of pundits, politicians, and major news outlets during the COVID pandemic, with countless prominent voices advising the American people to trust the guidance of scientists.

President Biden invoked the phrase repeatedly on the campaign trail in 2020 and throughout his presidency, saying his policies are based on the recommendations of public health experts.

However, key recommendations pushed by the country's health establishment and implemented by governments at the local, state, and federal levels were later contradicted by studies on the subjects.

Here are four major ideas about combating COVID that subsequent research has undermined:

A researcher works in a lab in Wuhan in central China, Hubei province, Oct. 12, 2021.  ((Photo credit should read Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

ANOTHER US AGENCY ASSESSES COVID-19 ORIGIN LIKELY A CHINESE 'LAB LEAK': REPORT

The lab leak theory is a conspiracy theory

The so-called "lab leak theory," according to which COVID came from an accidental lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, was widely dismissed as a conspiracy theory and "misinformation" by Democrats, major news outlets, scientists, and social media companies in the early stages of the pandemic.

However, the Energy Department, which had been undecided on the origin of the pandemic, has now joined the FBI in concluding the coronavirus likely spread due to a mishap at a Chinese laboratory.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the shift in the Energy Department's stance was noted in a classified 2021 intelligence report that was updated by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines's office.

Information signs are displayed at a retail store in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022. (AP Images)

FACE MASKS MADE ‘LITTLE TO NO DIFFERENCE’ IN PREVENTING SPREAD OF COVID, SCIENTIFIC REVIEW FINDS

Masks are essential to protect yourself and others

In April 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called on all Americans, even children as young as two years old, to wear masks to protect themselves and others from COVID. That September, then-CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said during a Senate hearing that "face masks are the most important powerful health tool we have." Dozens of states eventually enacted mask mandates.

Even last August, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it's "inexplicable" that some  Americans view mandatory mask-wearing as violation of their liberty.

According to a new study, however, it was all for naught. Published by the prestigious Cochrane Library, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health, the review dug into the findings of 78 randomized controlled trials to determine whether "physical interventions" — including face masks and hand-washing — lessened the spread of respiratory viruses. 

The conclusion about masks: "There is just no evidence that they make any difference. Full stop," Tom Jefferson, the study’s lead author, said in an interview. When asked specifically about fitted N95 masks in health care settings, Jefferson added, "It makes no difference — none of it."

Several businesses had to close due to COVID lockdowns. (iStock)

LEARNING LOSS FROM COVID LOCKDOWNS CAUSED 'UNMITIGATED DISASTER' PARTICULARLY IN STUDENT BEHAVIOR: EXPERTS

Lockdowns are necessary

The World Health Organization (WHO) advocated the use of lockdowns, first imposed by China, to stop the spread of COVID, and countries began implementing such measures over the course of 2020. Some still have lockdown measures in place today.

Several U.S. states imposed their own lockdowns, particularly blue states run by Democrats. Florida, Texas, and other Republican-led states received criticism from Biden, Fauci, and many media outlets for relaxing lockdown measures far earlier than place such as New York and California.

A study from Johns Hopkins University last year stated that lockdowns "imposed enormous economic and social costs where they have been adopted" before concluding, "Lockdown policies are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument."

Several studies have also found that closing schools due to COVID to protect kids, who were significantly less likely to die from the disease than adults, caused severe learning loss among students.

Finley Martin, 14, gets a shot of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at the First Baptist Church of Pasadena, May 14, 2021, in Pasadena, Calif.  (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

GEORGE MASON STUDY FINDS 'NO EVIDENCE' THAT VACCINE MANDATES IN MAJOR CITIES REDUCED COVID-19 CASES

Vaccines will stop the spread of the virus

When COVID vaccines were first made available, they were billed by the media and public health professionals as mechanisms to limit transmission of the virus and ultimately end the pandemic. Assertions questioning the efficacy of the vaccine were deemed "misinformation" by Big Tech companies and the Biden administration, which categorized many such assertions as "conspiracy theories."

However, a new study from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University concluded that COVID vaccine mandates in nine major cities didn't appear to make a difference in terms of curbing cases deaths from the pandemic.

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The study came after last year, a director of the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer admitted at a hearing before the European Parliament that, at the time of its introduction, the COVID vaccine had never been tested for stopping transmission of the virus, according to a video of the exchange posted by parliamentarian Rob Roos. 

A CDC advisory group said Friday it isn't recommending more than one annual coronavirus vaccine booster.