Choices are theirs alone

BORIS Johnson is right to proclaim we’re fighting a “battle” against Covid-19.

And that we can’t declare victory until a vaccine can be mass-produced.

Scientists agree on this, and there’s a consensus, too, that the shut-down has slowed the virus’s spread.

But on the specifics, there’s less consensus: Will there be a second and third wave? Are you immune if you’ve had it? Will it mutate?

So it’s simplistic when politicians insist they are “following the science”.

Politicians can’t wait for the scientists to achieve certainty. Moreover, their decisions – in particular, the balance between saving lives and saving livelihoods – doesn’t just involve science.

It involves ethics, economics and social policies. And in domains beyond their expertise, scientists speak with no enhanced authority.

■ The Royal Academy is the UK’s national academy of sciences.