Taleb has surprised me on his COVID takes. I have read his books numerous times, and he is always bringing up pandemics, perhaps rightfully so as a potential Black Swan type of impact to society.
He jumped out early with some of his calculus showing an extremely high rate of infection but his model also assumed high corresponding rate of fatalities. Now I think he can’t turn back and is stuck in his position, or he truly believes it. Not sure which.
As far as Taleb on Twitter, tune him out. He is intentionally combative and soon gets to be a bore with his aggression. Having said all that, I admire his books, and he popularized Intellectual Yet Idiot which should count for something. Read his books but ignore his Twitter.