A “surreal nightmare” in the Czech Republic and the global armed response to Covid-19
Welcome to the Infodemic. We are tracking how disinformation surrounding the coronavirus crisis is reshaping our lives. Below are the narratives, both real and fake, that have grabbed our attention and deserve yours.
As Covid-19 infections continue their downward trajectory in much of the world, the Czech Republic is experiencing a dramatic spike. Not only is the country seeing more new cases relative to its population than any other in the world, but the death rate is also nearly triple that of any other European country. “Living at the epicenter of this surreal nightmare is scary,” says Prague-based journalist Maksym Eristavi. “This is what happens when Covid management gets 100% about politics, and 0% about healthcare or science.” Political infighting is crippling the pandemic response. While Prime Minister Andrej Babis says that the country faces “hellish days” ahead, his opponents argue that it is time for the government to admit that its strategy has failed and to start taking the opposition’s proposals more seriously.
Israel has taken vaccine diplomacy to a new level. It will be giving out 100,000 Moderna vaccines to 15 diplomatic allies. Officially, they come with no strings attached, but four out of 15 beneficiaries — the Czech Republic, Guatemala, Honduras and Hungary — have either moved or promised to move their diplomatic missions to Jerusalem. The phenomenon is also spreading to hostage exchange deals. Israel agreed to buy an unspecified number of Sputnik vaccines for Syria, in exchange for an Israeli prisoner. Meanwhile, the 4.5 million Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank will only be getting 5,000 doses from Israel.
This week’s innovative solution to vaccine hesitancy comes from... Kazakhstan. The country just launched a Telegram chatbot designed to convince people to get vaccinated. It was built by the Red Crescent Kazakhstan and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies after polling showed that the majority of Kazakhs, including medical workers, rely on social media for their vaccine information. Kazakhstan is the first Central Asian country to start mass immunizations, with Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, but hesitancy is rampant. It probably doesn’t help that the health minister and the president are yet to receive the shot. Maybe the chatbot can convince them to lead the way.