Against the background of the great variety of interpretations of the diversity of responses to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, this chapter focuses on those responses that have been identified in research as “exceptions to the rule.” It comprises a two-country comparative study of the qualitative aspects of factors that have been responsible for the implementation of two radically different anti-pandemic policies that are termed here “liberal” and “restrictive.” The sample countries—Sweden and Bulgaria—were selected not simply as European democracies representative of the polar differences between persistent geo-political identities and cultural zones, but also as marking the poles of a continuum of measures capable of accommodating the entire variety of pandemic responses, from the most liberal to the most restrictive. Based on this analysis, a theoretical framework is developed that helps explain the underlying rationale of exceptions-to-the-rule in respect to anti-pandemic policies and approaches. This chapter identifies cultural and societal orientations, the levels and orientations of social and epistemic trust, and the values and frames that shape the perception of pandemic reality as the primary elements that need to be taken into account when forging anti-pandemic policies suitable for democracies.