Scholarly record

INFODEMIC EXPERIENCES AFTER THE THIRD WAVES OF THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) DISEASE

Sandra Veinberg

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed just about everything in terms of how we operate personally and professionally. Now involves less physical contact and more digital touchpoints. The study looks at the third period of the pandemic in Latvia, almost two years after the initial outbreak of Covid-19 and at a point when most European countries have achieved majority/ herd immunity thanks to double vaccination. At this time, vaccination certificates have already been introduced in Latvia, which would allow the curb of the spread of the virus infection and provide an opportunity to restore daily routines in society. Unfortunately, there is another outbreak of the pandemic at this point, as half of the population refuses to get the vaccine and due to the infodemic, the number of sick people and deaths reaches a peak in October 2021. The study shows that part of the blame for these developments lies with government, ministry and institutional communication errors, since they have ignored feedback from the public and not introduced crisis communication. The geopolitical position of the so-called “small country” and its dependence on the information space of the large neighbouring country Russia, where the prevailing guidelines contradict the position of Latvia and the EU, was also a serious lever for misinformation.

Publication details

Back to publication list