They essentially decided to borrow against future trust in order to achieve a desired near term outcome. That may have been the option which led to the fewest deaths, or maybe vaccination rates would be ?% higher if they hadn't undermined their own credibility. It was (and still is) impossible to know, but I don't think thats the kind of call we want scientists to be making.
If lies slow down the progress of society and progress continues curing disease and saving lives - there isn't an argument as to whether you save move lives, obviously you save more lives with trust if we agree on the axioms that trust is necessary for progress and that progress will increasingly save lives over time.
