Public affairs and communicating coronavirus vaccine risk: The role of government in maintaining public trust

• Published date: 01 May 2021
• Author: Phil Harris,Danny Moss
• Date: 01 May 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2693

EDITORIAL

Public affairs and communicating coronavirus vaccine risk: The

role of government in maintaining public trust

As we are about to publish the second issue of the Journal of Public

Affairs in 2021, two contrasting examples of public affairs in action

have come to the fore. First relates to the role and potential impor-

tance of government action in stepping up to address a potential crisis

of confidence in the coronavirus vaccine programme, and more specif-

ically, the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine following revelations

about a number of incidents and deaths from rare blood clots associ-

ated with the vaccine. The second development has been the re-

emergence of controversy around what has long been the highly

charged issue of the legitimacy of political lobbying. In this case, accu-

sations of inappropriate and unethical behaviour on the part of the

UK former Prime Minister, David Cameron, in lobbying on behalf of

the now collapsed finance company Greensill.

The first of these two issues –the questions raised about the

potentially life-threatening side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine-

has placed a “dark cloud”over the otherwise growing optimism in the

UK about the prospects of society and business progressing steadily

towards escape from the lockdown measures that have hung over the

country for over year. Indeed the government's “roadmap out of lock-

down”was predicated on the widespread compliance with social dis-

tancing measures and the steady rollout of the vaccination

programme in the UK. As these measures have taken hold, the UK has

witnessed a marked decline in infection rates, hospitalisations and

death rates. Indeed, the UK has implemented one of the most exten-

sive and successful vaccination programmes in the world, with close

to 50% (over 32 million) of the adult population has received at least

one dose of vaccine by April 2021 and nearly 9 million (13%) having

had two doses. Moreover, over this period, daily UK covid-related

hospital admissions have fallen to less than 200 from a high of just

over 4000 in January 2021. The positivity surrounding the success of

the UK vaccination programme was tempered by some concerns

expressed in a number of European countries, notably Germany,

France and Italy, where the use of the AZ vaccine was suspended or

restricted because of concerns of possible side effects.

Matters came to a head when the European Medicines Agency

(EMA) announced the results of its investigation into a number of

cases of unusual blood clotting amongst people who had received the

AstraZeneca vaccine. The EMA concluded there was a possible link

between the AstraZeneca Vaccine and very rare cases of uncommon

blood clots with low blood platelets. The potential damage that these

revelations could have for public confidence in the vaccination pro-

gramme was obvious and demanded swift action on the part of the

government and the Public Health authorities. First, the UK's

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) came

forward not to challenge the EMA's findings but recognising the

exceptionally low -risk of any blood clotting (approx four people in a

million) but nevertheless advising healthcare professionals to consider

the best vaccine options when dealing with younger adult patients.

Allowing the agencies such as MHRA to have their say alongside

other key healthcare spokespeople was part of the government over-

all ongoing public affairs/public communications strategy to maintain

public confidence in the government's Covid 19 prevention strategy.

Indeed, the UK government launched a high-profile advertising and

public information campaign to address these specific vaccine safety

concerns, involving celebrities and other well-known figures endorsing

the importance of getting vaccinated, while at the same time engi-

neering opportunities for leading public health spokespeople and sci-

entists to discuss the issue of vaccine efficacy and risk. What this

recent covid-19 related example illustrates is that when dealing with

such a complex and all-encompassing issues, public affairs may need

to adopt as multi-faceted and flexible approach as necessary to

engage with the relevant stakeholder groups.

While coronavirus and its impact on our lives and the economy both

domestically and worldwide has dominated the news headlines around

the world for many months, one very unwelcome issue from a public

affairs perspective has raised its head as we compose this editorial-

namely concern over “backdoor lobbying”and paid for government

access. In this case, the controversy has surrounded ex-Prime Minister

David Cameron's, reported attempts to help the now collapsed financial

services company, Greensill, secure favourable government contracts.

News has emerged that Cameron may have attempted to contact at

least four UK ministers, including the current chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and

brokering high-level access for Greensill Capital with members of the

then German Government. The breaking of this story raised the spectre

of yet another scandal involving the inappropriate use of access to power

by former Ministers and government officials that plagued the Tory gov-

ernment in the early 1990s. The so-called “cash for questions”scandal at

that time had led to the establishment of the Nolan Committee on Stan-

dards in Public Life that went on to produce a Code of Practice for those

working in public life.

This gave birth to what became known as the Nolan Principles,

which were published in its first report and were enshrined in seven

keywords:

•Selflessness,

•Integrity,

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2693

J Public Affairs. 2021;21:e2693. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 1of2

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2693