Murmurs from the Springs - Getting Our Story Straight : Tom McDermott

Getting Our Story Straight

In the US I am a devoted listener to NPR - National Public Radio. Their coverage of events is almost always fair and balanced. This morning, however, I did the unthinkable - I sent them a complaint about their coverage of COVID vaccinations.

The point of my criticism was a news programme in which they crammed into one short segment three somewhat contrasting stories:
* That the US was on some days vaccinating over 3 million people and averaging well over 2.5 million shots per day.
* That the US plans to ship some of its stock of AstraZeneca vaccines to Canada and Mexico (the trials of the AstraZeneca vaccine here have been very successful but formal approval has not yet been given).
* That some rich Mexicans have been coming to the US to get vaccinated, sometimes using fake addresses and otherwise ‘jumping the queue’ while not meeting various local requirements of eligibility.

But wait a minute. I thought the problem was that so many Americans refuse to be vaccinated. News stories tell us each day about the many Americans say that they will refuse the vaccine, how many members of Congress have not taken it - and about COVID deniers, anti-vaxxers, stars who doubt it, and distrust of vaccines in minority communities,

So what is the story here? Is vaccination going well - or badly? Do people want the vaccine - or do they not? Will we one day vaccinate enough people to reach herd immunity? Are vaccines in short supply - or do we have a surplus? Do we want to ensure vaccines reach other countries - or do we want just to vaccinate Americans? Do we think it matters whether countries neighboring us get vaccinated quickly - or is our theme still ‘American First’?

The lack of a consistent messaging strategy for COVID vaccination in the US echoes a similar failure on a global level. Is COVAX doing well - or failing to deliver what it promised? A recent report stresses that COVAX has so far ‘only’ managed to buy 1.1 billion doses of vaccine, compared with the 4.6 billion doses bought by high-income countries.

Other reports go further, asking whether ‘COVAX is part of the solution - or part of the problem? Should more of the money and time have been spent on helping countries produce their own vaccines (conveniently forgetting to mention the enormous quantities of AstraZeneca vaccines being produced under license in India)?

The stories and questions go on - and on. Does COVAX lack transparency in its procurement? Did Moderna take an investment of $ 1 million and then ‘stiff’ the international effort by not committing a single dose to the effort? Will only the rich be vaccinated when ‘poor’ countries eventually receive vaccines?

I do understand the need for reporters to sniff out fresh angles to any issue. I also understand that there are countless good questions which deserve answers. In this case and in many others, however, the many angles journalists take end up confusing and disheartening their audience. In trying to tell ‘all sides’ of a story, they fail to keep a central narrative - hopefully a positive one and one generally free from ‘hand-wringing’ suspicion, conspiracy and doubt.

When I grew up in the 1950’s ‘the story’ was about polio which was crippling and killing so many teens and young adults. The hero of the day was Dr. Jonas Salk, but the key communicator was none other than ‘Elvis Presley’ who convinced so many young people and their parents that the vaccine was safe and effective. 

In 1956 Elvis even got himself vaccinated ‘live’ on TV’s weekly Ed Sullivan show - much more influential for teens of my day than watching Macron, Johnson, or Biden get vaccinated these days.

No doubt, today’s story is more complicated. There is no single global star equaling those of the 50’s and 60's. Moreover, today’s problem is (so far, at least) not as much in convincing people to take a shot, as in making the shots available in the first place. Getting governments to commit funds is not (so far at least) as big a problem as producing the vaccines fast enough to meet demands. Those problems and others will no doubt arise, but wringing our hands about what ‘might’ happen in the future gets us nowhere today.

Developing and guiding a global communications strategy is no mean feat. Without one, however, ‘the story’ becomes one of constant doubts, accusations, and suspicions. Hand-wringers take over. The story diverts into political fights, calls for ‘freedom’ from mask mandates, fights in supermarkets, queue jumpers, corporate intrigue, foreigners ‘stealing’ our vaccines, and - of course - vaccine nationalism.

In short, the world needs a communications strategy - something UNICEF is generally good at producing. If it is ‘out there’, we are not yet seeing much evidence. Where is Elvis? Where are the pop singers, football stars, actors and actresses who should be telling the story?

Wouldn’t it be nice to see an agency with a proven track record in vaccination and global communications step up to the plate?  Anybody know of one?

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