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Conspiratorial thought and the COVID-19 vaccination in Serbian Southeastern Europe

Misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and negative politicization of the COVID-19 health crisis tend to undermine the health care efforts across the globe. Vaccination against COVID-19 is the path toward prevention and containment of COVID-19, as well as socio-economic recovery. As 2020 came to an end, Serbian Southeastern Europe initiated its vaccination efforts with the American Pfitzer-BioNTech. Since receiving Serbia’s national medicines regulator agency’s authorisation to proceed with the use of the Russian Sputnik V on 31 December 2020, Serbia is to onboard the vaccination using Sputnik V vaccine to supply the vaccine demands of the population.

GLOBSEC’s Trends 2020 states that only 37% of Central and Eastern Europe’s citizens are ready to take the vaccine at this time, while that figure rises to 53% among participants who trust their public authorities. Simultaneously Serbia scored second – after Montenegro – with 38% of respondents replying to believe in conspiracy theories. GLOBSEC proposes to consider correlation between the willingness to become vaccinated and the states’ ability to build trust and communicate with citizens.

Permeating to societies, accidental or intentional and calculated confusions are further complicated by conspiratorial notions. Conspiracy theories across the globe range from the antisemitic belief in Jews’ control of the world, COVID-19 as Chinese engineered phenomenon, mobilisation of anti-vaccination or anti-vax without and with such layered actors as the supporters of the QAnon movement, COVID-19’s linkage to 5G technology, and implantation of nano-chips for public control. GLOBSEC’s Trends 2020 outlines that Serbia measures 38% on the belief that the official number of COVID-19 cases is lower than the county’s public institutional authorities in the country announce, 43% on the belief that the COVID-19 is fake to manipulate the population, and 38% on the belief that USA deliberately created the COVID-19 virus. USA added to the regular and the irregular actors suspected and scapegoated or identified as national threats across diverse world’s populations.

The conspiratorial perplexity becomes illustrated in the more casual contradiction within the Serbia’s public opinion. GLOBSEC outlines that 85% of Serbians are in favour of a democracy as a construct based on human rights, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law. Nonetheless 74% of the Serbian population simultaneously are noted to believe in a conspiracy of secret elite ruled world where democracy is non-existent. As the result conveying a complex societal phenomenon of trust, mistrust, and participatory consciousness.

At this time, supply and demand of the population are met through supply from different manufacturers for what as of 10 January 2021 – stated Prime Minister of Republic of Serbia, Ana Brnabic – to be amounting to 8 million doses and additional doses to be made available should they be needed. Recent agreement provided abilities to strengthen the health care system to enable vaccination against COVID-19 and to establish the logistics of a secure cold chain needed for the preservation of the vaccines and their delivery. Adoption of mass vaccination checkpoints plan by the Crisis Headquarters will enable to proceed with the opening of the first checkpoint. Whereby citizens would be able to begin systematically applying for vaccination to be made available to them. Additional options would include an ability to clarify whether every vaccine approved or a certain vaccine is preferred. Further development of the national vaccination is to include that accumulated data in continued planning of the system’s needs and decision making. Efforts are also being made for vaccination in Kosovo and Metohija along with other investments to assure the preservation of the people and marginalised Serbian population within the contested centuries-old territory.

Earlier in the 2020 conversations within Southeastern Europe’s population of the unreasoned preferability for Russian manufactured vaccine, bias, and corruption of reasoning based on the concerns with Serbian-Russian relations, especially observed within Bosnia and Herzegovina context, added to the permeating notions within the broader Southeastern Europe. As of December 28th, 2020, Bosnia and Herzegovina – among the 6 countries of the Western Balkans – was offered to benefit from the 70 million euros aid package agreed upon by the European Union. While therefore offering early access to COVID-19 vaccines, offer is noted to result in the actual modest amount of vaccines made available leading to Emerging Europe’s contemplation of the vaccine diplomacy and headlining, “The EU needs to up its vaccine diplomacy game”. Initial efforts already showcased the inability of the European Union to enable complete solutions within the Southeastern Europe and raised discussions of the ability to well assist each other within the European Union. Serbian Southeastern Europe seen earlier assistance from China seeking to address the early 2020 concerns posed by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, and recent medical supply shipment from United Arab Emirates in support to the Republic of Serbia and the citizens of Serbia with their efforts during the pandemic.

Since the actual finalisation of the Russia developed Sputnik V vaccine, inoculation following national approvals made Serbia to follow suit with other countries such as Belarus, Argentina, and Bolivia in examination and further approval of the Sputnik V vaccination as part of the broader range of supply of vaccines to be made available.

Nationalisation of vaccines, unrests and authoritarian concerns made the COVID-19 pandemic societies further permeated with fears of decrease in democracy, increase in authoritarian tendencies and control over the public. Fueling conversations among the public, journalists, and academic voices of the abilities of expression, questions of monitoring, and equality, equity, and inclusion within the current and future global mobility.

As the supply needs of the populations are being met the ability to counter narratives, to address concerns and misunderstandings, to build trust and communicate with citizens poses an additional task for governments and whole societies. Outcomes of the efforts will enable to pave the path toward prevention and containment of COVID-19, socio-economic recovery, and further endurance and development in a globalised world.

Texts may mention organisations, groups, movements, ideologies that are prohibited, recognised as objectionable, extremist or terrorist within various countries. Dissemination of such information, support and participation is prosecuted or may be prosecuted by law for the safety of every person, citizens and society. The information in this article was created through general and special education that meets international standards, as well as with regular professional development and advancement of qualifications.

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