Ukraine’s epidemiological statistics are frightening: epidemic infections, record fatalities, and among the lowest vaccination rates in Europe. Officials saw an opportunity to be scary themselves with an advertising campaign aimed at youth that stated, “You may die if you’re unvaccinated.”
In one advertisement being shown on nearly 30 local television stations, a voice-over intones, “There is a new death record every day.” Various voices speak up among young people about their invincibility as different footage of youngsters partying, exercising, and performing other typical activities appears on the screen. “I’m still too young.”
Those pictures, on the other hand, are spliced together with images of youngsters who are being rushed to intensive care after having been put on oxygen. A casket is shown being lifted in a final shot.
The final message reads, “You can fool yourself, but not covid.”
The ad, and others like it, is a significant escalation in the government’s attempt to gain the upper hand on the epidemic. After months of a slower approach focused on rolling out the immunization drive and providing basic information on the range of vaccines available in Ukraine: AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Sinovac, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has promised to speed up vaccinations.
“I urge everyone to turn off their social media and switch on their brains,” Zelensky said in recent remarks to the press. “We must be vaccinated; there is no other option.”
The worst coronavirus outbreak in Ukraine thus far has resulted in one of Europe’s deadliest diseases. Every day, about 20,000 Ukrainians are infected with the virus, which has resulted in over 700 fatalities. The epidemic is already much worse than the previous major outbreak this spring, when daily figures were around 15,000 new infections and 500 deaths.
Ukraine has ranked third in daily fatalities after the United States and Russia, as well as in the top ten in infection counts. Europe is once again a pandemic hot spot, with more than 50 percent greater coronavirus infections in the past month, according to the World Health Organization.
Ukraine, according to the Johns Hopkins University, has an eighth-highest rate of death per 100,000 people among the nations considered “most affected.”
Hospitals in certain states are reporting a scarcity of beds, and medical oxygen supplies have been running out. On October 25, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention elevated Ukraine to Level 4, its most severe risk category for nations.
The death toll from the virus is expected to rise in the coming weeks, with officials in Ukraine warning that fatalities could reach 1,000 per day by December.
Between 20 and 25 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated, with vaccines being free and readily available. According to authorities, more than 90% of persons infected with Covid-19 are unvaccinated.
Ukraine’s vaccination rates are low for a variety of reasons, including widespread anti-vaccine beliefs and misinformation campaigns that officials maintain are being pushed from inside Russia.
Russian officials deny that they are fomenting instability in Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities, on the other hand, claim that this is only part of a greater Russian effort to undermine Ukrainian sovereignty. Kyiv refers to it as a “hybrid war,” during which Russia’s internationally unrecognized annexation of Crimea in 2014 and backing for an armed, pro-Russian separatist movement in eastern Ukraine have been incorporated.
Recent statements from Ukrainian officials alleging a Russian connection include the belief that the novel coronavirus is transmitted via 5G digital technology or by Bill Gates, that vaccines would induce genetic mutations, and that Ukraine’s reaction is evidence of its failure.
In March, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed allegations that Russia was spreading pandemic-related disinformation across the world as “absurd” and “groundless,” adding that they were “without basis in reality.”
“Russia has never taken part and does not intend to participate in such campaigns against other vaccines,” he added. (Sputnik V was the chief developer of Russian vaccines.)
Ukraine’s information efforts in the spring and summer concentrated on promoting the fact that coronavirus immunizations, which arrived in Ukraine late, were accessible and where and how they could be obtained.
Covid-19 Vaccination Communication Center director Svitlana Kisilova acknowledged that she and her team were failing to connect with certain audiences. They made the adjustments to their message in September.
“The anti-vaccine messages are more emotional and direct,” said Kisilova, who works with the government to organize public outreach.
“We looked at our research and realized that what we were doing wasn’t working for certain audiences,” she continued. “We’ve become a lot more harsh.”
Ukraines’ resistance to vaccines has a long history. After decades of political corruption and ineptitude, many people are wary of any government order. There is also a movement against more-established vaccines, such as those for measles and polio, that predates the epidemic.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian health officials announced that five pediatric polio infections have been identified in the southwest of the country.
However, the anti-vaccination messages were gaining ground. According to public opinion surveys, the number of people who said they were willing to have vaccine injections decreased by more than 70 percent between June and September.
“There were a lot of reasons for the fall: loss of trust, anxiety about long-term effects,” said Andrii Sukharyna, a political analyst at Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation in Kyiv, which conducted the second poll.
But there were other, more-obscure factors at work, and they were largely related to Russian disinformation.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login