Where Covid-19 messaging went wrong
With Covid-19 vaccination uptake slowing across the United States, persuading more people to get the jab has become a subject of debate among public health experts, government officials and members of the media. (N.B., not referring to the process of receiving the vaccine as “getting the jab” would be a good place to start.) Derek Thompson of The Atlantic has published a piece on his own informal investigation into the attitudes driving those who refuse the vaccine, concluding that opinions generally move in sync with individuals’ views on the pandemic itself. In other words, people who don’t consider the coronavirus to be an imminent threat are less inclined to get vaccinated against it.
Thompson’s explanation is an intuitive one that most of us have likely taken as a given. It reflects how muddled messaging since the start of the pandemic has impacted our national response to the virus.
On a macro scale, overwhelming the nation’s hospitals and medical facilities always represented the biggest threat posed by Covid-19. Recovery for many depends on the capacity of the healthcare system to deliver treatment, and communities have a limited supply of hospital beds and equipment like ventilators to go around. The faster the virus spreads in an area, the greater the number of serious cases, the greater the strain on the healthcare system. When the need for care exceeds the ability of the healthcare system to provide it, the likelihood of death or serious complications from the virus goes up. The current situation in India offers a worst-case example of such a scenario.
Importantly, the strain on capacity also detracts from the healthcare system’s ability to address other medical issues, such as dangerous diseases and life-threatening emergencies. If you’re in a bad car accident, for instance, you’re in even worse trouble if every nearby hospital is packed with Covid patients. Younger, healthier people have some skin in the game, therefore, when it comes to curbing the spread of the virus and inoculating themselves against Covid-19.
All of that speaks to the need for members of the public to play a proactive role in tamping down Covid transmission. The importance of communal responsibility was often communicated in messaging to the public, but why it’s important never really penetrated the public consciousness on a broad scale. The concept of “flattening the curve” probably came closest in terms of effectiveness, and even that required a bank shot or two to arrive at its ultimate meaning.
Compare that to a common refrain from Covid skeptics: “It’s like the flu.” We’ve dealt with influenza as part of our lives for centuries. It kills tens of thousands of people in the U.S. every year, but most people kick it in a couple days. The symptoms of coronavirus even sound similar. If the country keeps on trucking through flu season, why should this be any different?
The simplicity of “it’s like the flu” makes it an easily accessible narrative relative to painting a theoretical picture of hospitals overrun with patients vying for ventilators. To be sure, it also resonated with some audiences because it came from the Leader of the Free World at the time, while misinformation peddlers found it useful for their own ends. You can understand how the well might have been poisoned for some persuadable members of the public while forming their initial impressions of how best to understand and combat the spread of Covid-19.
