Aleksandra Hristov

WHAT ARE THE MERITS OF THE STATE CRISIS COUNCIL IN SERBIA FOR THE WEEK VACCINATION RESPONSE

THE TRUST SQUANDERED

The consultant for the strategic and crisis communication Aleksandra Hristov points out that the various countries have managed this pandemic in different ways, and the effects in each case can currently be seen in the attitudes of the public in abiding by the prescribed measures and their enrollment in the vaccination effort.

“That is undoubtedly one of the parameters of the success in managing this crisis. At the beginning of the pandemic the entire Serbia every day at 3 PM was watching the press conferences from the State Crisis Council (SCC) headquarters, and the public widely believed them. However, the contradictory messages from the SCC, especially coupled with the opposing opinions from the political and expert part of the Council, and with the political part always dominant in decision making, we are now witnessing that during 2020 the public trust was lost towards getting any information from that important source. One of the main effects of such crisis management is the general mistrust among the majority of citizens. Consequently, in spite of having the abundance of each of the four types of vaccines offered in Serbia, very few individuals opted to be vaccinated”, says Hristov.

She stressed the fact that trust once lost is very hard to earn again.

“At the same time, despite the widely held correct belief that the crisis always carries new opportunities, in the crisis you can not design a successful plan to score the political points by intent, and that pertains to any organization or country in any crisis. The crisis is managed by systemic and consistent implementation of the singular set of well thought through messages”, adds our interlocutor.

THE CAMPAIGN AND THE UNCOMPROMISED EXPERTS

“If we exclude the measure of mandatory vaccination, that by law here exists, the solution is to change the body in charge of the crisis, which is now hard to do because the trust has been largely spent. For the efficient change of the atmosphere during any crisis, together with the attitude of the majority of the participants and observers, the key is not only in the new actions proposed, but more importantly who is proposing them. Only that can produce the rapid turnaround and the situation change. That new body (new SCC) must be made of the credible individuals who have not damaged their reputations during the crisis, and only those therefore have the necessary authority to come up with the believable economic and health prognosis, and to decide about the actions to recommend to the state to implement. Those newly appointed persons must have the coordinated slogans so that the public can understand how to a behave and what is beneficial to their and theirs siblings’ health and wellbeing”, continues Hristov.

She added that unfortunately, the individuals with the personal and professional integrity very often refuse or very much hesitate to participate in solving the crisis if invited by those who already squandered the public trust and are profoundly responsible for creating the bad situation.

“In addition to all this, it is necessary to organize the vaccination campaign geared towards the younger population by using the communication channels that are familiar to them, such as social networks and peer education”, emphasized Hristov.

Original article at: https://nova.rs/vesti/drustvo/kolike-su-zasluge-kriznog-staba-za-slabu-vakcinaciju/