By Dr Njeri Mwagiru
Countering conspiracy theories that lead to vaccine hesitancy, threatening to derail the government’s target of achieving herd immunity against Covid-19 by the end of the year, will take more than politicians publicly receiving their vaccine shots. Rebuilding public trust is what is needed.
The roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines, with the government aiming to vaccinate 67% of the population is central to the strategy to prevent a third wave that would lead to further loss of lives and disrupt the economy again.
Curbing the spread of conspiracy theories, misinformation and fake news will be a key element in the success of that strategy.
Conspiracy theories thrive when the social contract is weak, when the public lacks trust that leaders, institutions and establishments in authority will act outside their self and partisan group interests.
The public shows of acceptance of the vaccine by leaders will be ineffective if they are overshadowed by a lack of trust, with the risk of well-intended publicity being hijacked by a conspiracy narrative that says such displays are part of a mass duping process.
The leadership needs to convince constituencies, through sustained actions, that they are acting as stewards in service of society and that their decisions and our institutions are geared towards the greater good.
The onus is on governments, multinational corporations and big business, as well as science, the media and education institutions, to re-establish the public’s trust in their systems.
Areas where public institutions could improve public trust include ethical leadership, increased transparency and accountability, improved information sharing and participatory, evidence-based decision-making.
Education institutions and the media also have a role to play in ensuring accurate information gains traction over misinformation.
In addition to conspiracy theories surrounding the Covid-19 vaccine in Africa in particular, there were historical links between racism and science and previous unethical actions by “big pharma” on the continent. These also provided reasons for distrust in experimental science, the ethics of research, testing processes and vaccines.
Despite some prosecutions for crimes and human rights abuses by pharmaceutical and medical industries in Africa, confidence in the functional procedures to guard against malpractice and negative impacts is low, and is further justified by weak regulatory environments and governance.
For this reason, some characteristics of conspiracy theories are not altogether negative and have the potential to work for good, by acting as an early warning system for signals of social decay such as large-scale corruption, reminding us that systems have failed in the past, and still do.
By questioning and challenging dominant hierarchies, conspiracy theories remind us to be vigilant, to hold leadership and decision-makers accountable, and to counteract any neglect of our systems and institutions that should be acting for the full benefit of all stakeholders.
Alongside anti-vaccine conspiracies, might there be a narrative similarly as potent on ‘vaccine-elitism’? The evident unequal access to vaccines is a widely debated issue and one that merits attention as an illustration of ongoing power plays at the expense of the vulnerable. This too is worthy of conspiracy-level mass attention.
*Dr Njeri Mwagiru is from the Institute for Futures Research at the University of Stellenbosch Business School.
**The views expressed here are not those of The Star or IOL.
The Star