It took a pandemic, but the US finally has (some) centralized medical data

Throughout the pandemic, there has been serious tension between what the public wants to know and what scientists have been able to say for certain. Scientists have been able to learn more about covid, faster, than about any other disease in history—but at the same time, the public has been shocked when doctors can’t answer seemingly basic questions: What are the symptoms of covid-19? How does it spread? Who’s most susceptible? What’s the best way to treat it?  Nowhere has this conflict been more clear than in the US, which spends nearly a fifth of its gross domestic product on health care but achieves worse outcomes than any other wealthy country.