Colin Campbell | Strategy gaps, failures and boomerangs of COVID-19 communication

On September 10, Jamaica will mark 18 months of fighting the mysterious coronavirus in Jamaica.The first case landed in Jamaica by a carrier from the United Kingdom on March 4, 2020. The Jamaican lady later became ill, and on March 10, the Government announced the first “imported” case. The lady, who originates from Bull Bay, east rural St Andrew, had arrived to attend the funeral of a deceased relative. From Bull Bay, it became national.

From the outset, Prime Minister Andrew Holness took personal responsibility for coordinating, controlling, and communicating the critical matters arising, leaving mundane details and the more difficult issues to his erstwhile Minister of Health and Wellness, Christopher Tufton. There was never a national committee to steer a multifaceted response mechanism and action. And importantly, the country was never mobilised as a unit as envisioned in the Disaster Risk Management Act. Instead, the PM appointed himself the COVID Czar.

Curiously also, there was no lead medical or scientific Czar save and except for a politically correct Chief Medical Officer, Dr Jacquiline Bissasor-McKenzie who plays a non-authoritative role, giving facts and figures on the public-health system only without going off script.

Seldom did we hear her on the science and the projections that should be the root of national awareness. However, when given the chance, though, Dr Webster-Kerr of the ministry ventured off script and gave useful epidemiological context. Unfortunately, Jamaicans were left without a Dr Antony Fauci-like figure to analyse, project, and warn.

The media searched for months to find such a voice of authority and seem to have settled on the combination of Dr Peter Figueroa, Professor Winston Davidson, and Dr Alverston Bailey. Without the power of government, they have done a decent job.

From the beginning, the communication was produced and directed by the prime minister, characterised by lengthy press conferences that sought to present a tough managerialist image of his leadership. The problem with that approach is that if it fails, it takes out the prime minister.

It probably worked initially, with early positive local and international ratings. Jamaicans listened to the pressers, even if they were too long and the messaging was lost in fluff and political bravado. Government supporters had their tails in the air and smelled invincibility.

NIGHT CURFEWS SEEN NECESSARY

The nightly curfews were seen as necessary and effective, the controlled-entry programme as serious, the WHO-mandated protocols as obligatory, and the reproductive rates as good, compared to the deaths in other countries in the Americas and internationally.

Even the $25 billion stimulus package as well as the CARE and cash-grant programmes were seen as a big effort to lessen the impact of the adverse economic implications as the Jamaica economy struggled and tourism took an 80 percent decline.

The prime minister’s performance in front of the television cameras took place well before the September 2020 general elections. Unfortunately, things went off track just prior to the elections.

The Emancipation-Independence surge, followed by the election itself, held in a period of confirmed community spread, combined to put Jamaica in a downward spiral. The explanations became incoherent, and incoherence still characterises the COVID- 19 communication.

Bewildering chops and changes are the regular two-week diet as the prime minister stitches a piecemeal approach, obviously without scientific foundation. The messaging is more unpersuasive, compromising special interests as exhibited in the now infamous Dream Weekend. To compound the matter, instead of taking an introspective approach, it resorted to “No apology”, ( Weekend Gleaner, August 21, 2021).

Columnist Garfield Higgins aptly called it “arrogance on steroids”. When he comments adversely, it cannot get any worse for the Government.

Another aspect of the communication failure is the vaccination programme itself, the underestimation of the messaging from the anti-vaxxer movement, and the lack of trust among the ‘hesitants’. Had the Government invested authority in one person and paid attention to the insidious anti-vaccine message, Jamaica would be in a better place.

The population demographic groups that are being targeted will not be easily changed now. They are thoroughly mixed and permanently fixed, to quote Vivian Blake. Last Friday, I heard a Warner lady preaching in the market: “If I chose the vaccine over relying on God, He would say, ‘A lose off a you’.” That is deep. Neither sickness nor death will easily change her.

ONE SIZE DOESN’T FIT ALL

The change will only come by a social-marketing strategy that a prime minister cannot execute at a podium. Jamaica is not a one-size-fits-all country. It is diverse and hard-sell.’

The Vaccine Programme’s logistics nightmare and the philosophy that people can be scared into vaccination or “become the hero on the scene” are wishful thinking and unlikely to secure the outcomes Jamaica desires.

The Government must get serious and develop a proper integrated communication plan and strategy. The creative professionals are there. At the same time, fix the massive logistics missteps which turn off people, frustrate those who want to get vaccinated, and make Jamaica appear incompetent. It is not rocket science, and the JDF has the requisite expertise. Standing guard is not their only talent.

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, and our prime minister is not Superman. He has to be advised by experts in the fields of science, communication and logistics and supply chain management.

If Jamaica does not wheel and come again, stop the 10- and 14-day spurts and communicate effectively and proactively to secure buy-in. The last stage may be worse than the first. As Robert Nesta Marley said: “Many more will have to suffer, many more will have to die.”

Those who have ears to hear let them hear.

Colin Campbell is the former minister of information. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com