Unclear, opaque public-health messaging has been a major problem throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, sowing confusion and making the crisis worse than it needed to be. To regain the public's trust, health officials must start learning from their mistakes and stop confusing credibility with infallibility.
FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CT – As the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky, recently acknowledged, poor public-health communication and messaging throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has damaged the public’s trust in health agencies and institutions. This, in turn, contributed to well-known problems such as vaccine hesitancy, noncompliance with mask recommendations and other protective measures, and general misinformation about the virus and how it is transmitted.
FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CT – As the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky, recently acknowledged, poor public-health communication and messaging throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has damaged the public’s trust in health agencies and institutions. This, in turn, contributed to well-known problems such as vaccine hesitancy, noncompliance with mask recommendations and other protective measures, and general misinformation about the virus and how it is transmitted.