Good afternoon. Today's newsletter, edited by Sam Baker, is 518 words, a 2-min. read. Thanks to Sheryl Miller for copy editing.

Simmering frustration over COVID precautions helped return President-elect Trump to the White House — and some public health experts fear the public's trust in science has been irreparably damaged.

• Some experts now say they took the wrong tone when trying to defend safety measures like masks or build confidence in the vaccines, The Wall Street Journal reports in a deep dive into the pandemic's long-lasting political impact.