COVID panel offers lessons learned, three years on

On Jan. 6, 2021, Dr. Alexander Lazar was overseeing COVID-19 testing in the U.S. Capitol, and was just closing down the site when his cellphone started blowing up. There is an emergency, shelter in place.

At first, he wasn’t too concerned. As he headed up to the crypt, however, he saw people sitting on the ground, some of them bleeding. Rioters had breached the building. He identified himself as a doctor and began examining the injured. Later, a SWAT team evacuated him to the Senate side, where he set up a medical station and took care of people until 3:30 a.m.

In retrospect, he sees the outburst of violence on Jan. 6 as linked to the polarization around COVID-19 policies – with both symptomatic of growing distrust in government.

“However you think