After announcing universal vaccination, the expert warns: communication is significantly delayed

– In February this year, the Vice Minister of Health Živilė Simonaitytė stated that after consulting with communication specialists, the decision was made not to communicate the vaccination process until there is no vaccine. Today, considering the situation as a whole, it does not yet exist in Lithuania. Don’t we just see a dedicated campaign?

– It is obvious that we already have more vaccines in Lithuania than people who want to be vaccinated with them. This is recognized by the professionals themselves. The vaccination campaign is delayed. Unfortunately, today’s action is also delayed. When implementing communication projects with an audience throughout Lithuania, it would have been logical to start everything a few days ago, and not this morning, when everything begins.

There was also a passport for options. The expectation in this regard arose very early, and during the first weekend it was installed by about 200,000 people. people. Therefore, they were just waiting.

Another nuance is the congested systems that today do not resist the flow of those who want to register. In my opinion, in a few days, the Ministry of Health and the municipalities will face another problem. And that problem is that the number of active people who want to be vaccinated is running out, that is, those who do not need to be encouraged to do so.

– Does this mean that we have a higher number of people in Lithuania who do not trust vaccines just because the vaccination campaign started at the wrong time? Also, in this way do we provide space to spread disinformation?

– Partly yes. If positive information is missing, people are looking for it. However, finding information is not necessarily accurate. And this is not only the uniqueness of Lithuanian society. It can be said that this is a characteristic of world societies. Projects over several decades have proven this.

By not actively communicating about the benefits, necessity and benefits of vaccination, we have hurt the opposing forces which, as is clear from the available information, are already very active in filling this gap with negative information.

– The Ministry of Health has recently distributed videos in which the Minister, the Chancellor and a specialist have requested vaccines. To the best of our knowledge and belief, the author of these video ideas – Spokesperson for the Minister of Health A. Dulkis Aistė Šuksta. Can the desire to have all the ministry communication in one hand get away from the other?

– He’s already turning the other way. Unfortunately, however, I would like the right-wing government to have more confidence in private initiative. We see how many there were during the pandemic and how much communication assistance was provided. The Vilnius case showed that if you are not afraid to cooperate with business and non-governmental organizations, you will really win.

Those clips are not bad, but building a house with a brick or a type of brick is very difficult. This requires different materials.

– So how do you reach people who live in villages without Internet, or older people whose best friend is usually a correspondent?

– Let’s go back to the elections that took place six months ago, when almost all the parties tried and were interested in reaching the largest possible number of voters, regardless of their age or place of residence. In this case, we need to talk about the means for this: the local press, the Internet, radio, television and live meetings.

It will be interesting to see how the three million euros spent on communication will be spent. How much information will there be in the local press, not just paid advertising, but also information from experts.

It is also interesting how local municipal opinion leaders will participate in the dissemination of the necessary information. Communication plan: after dividing the target groups, adapt the appropriate information to them. Watching a SAM video in which a young employee asks for a vaccine implies sadness, as if there could be nothing attractive or provocative about the vaccination campaign.

– Vaccination campaign donated to the Ministry of Health by private initiatives „Shoulders for freedom“. Can we see your benefits today?

– When such a monotonous ad is shown, I think that little by little it starts to annoy. It can be said that it has become ineffective over time. A person gets used to the same advertising. As a result, it stops working. To be heard and seen, you must change the tone, the shape, the playfulness, and even the colors. And most importantly, if something is not working, you should not be afraid to change direction.

– I don’t think the Shoulder for Freedom campaign has worked. The national campaign did not produce the desired results. As a result, there were also negative emotions in the municipalities, as they had to come up with their own ways to encourage people to get vaccinated.

– Today, almost 600 thousand. people in the country who are vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine. How many would there have been if the vaccination campaign had been successful?

– It is difficult to predict, because when running a campaign of this scale, it is necessary to do an investigation after two weeks to determine the effectiveness.

– It was done?

– We have no data on this, but I can say from experience that it would have been effective. At least 15-20 percent. a broader audience would certainly be reached. Ingenuity can help access a person.