V-Day across cultures

Coronavirus has affected almost every nation on the planet. It has produced different results and reactions. Up until now, infectious disease transmission experts have offered various clarifications and explanations for this unique pandemic and its various effects. These may be related to socioeconomic conditions, level of urbanization and pollution, social and health policies, restrictive measures, and the speed of government reactions. What is the role of the culture in the coronavirus vaccination decision-making process?

Especially in the decision-making process considering the adoption of more or less restrictive measures and/or regarding the vaccination campaign, we think that also national and group cultures have played a role.

For example, collectivist societies where the group comes before the individual  could achieve agreement more promptly. So they could be ideal for a quick and successful effort to contain the spread of the virus. Also, these cultures and countries have a solid interest in “saving face”. It may be consistent with control measures, making government rules more viable and respected.

Furthermore, at the individual level, social characteristics of a collectivistic society can impact individual choices. Basic and fundamental things as wearing a mask or keeping social distance. On the opposite, as a recent research started to analyse, in more individualistic societies like the US and especially in areas marked by boondocks settlements, individuals are more averse to wear masks and keep a social distance.

This has happened for restrictions and containment measures in the first phase of the pandemic as well as nowadays for the vaccination campaign. Also, in this case, we can see how the cultural aspects have influenced the management and the administration of the covid vaccine in different countries. Using the cultural lens, we have conducted an exercise and we have tried to analyzed  is the, so-called, V-day, December 27, 2020. On that occasion, different countries have chosen to vaccinate first, different categories of people.

Let’s have a look at the role culture has played in the Coronavirus vaccination decision-making process!

Power Distance

In Bulgaria, Vax Day started in three major cities of the country: the capital Sofia, Plovdiv in the South, and Burgas on the Black Sea.

The first person vaccinated was the Health Minister Kostadin Angelov. He was followed by hospital directors and health workers at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19.

In the Czech Republic, too, we saw political leaders like the Czech Prime Minister, Andrej Babis.

The same happened in Greece. The first two people vaccinated were President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and the prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. In Greece, they called the Vax Day “Eleftheria” that means Freedom operation.

All these countries chose politicians and political leaders.

If we consider Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and especially Power Distance Index, this dimension identifies the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. In a large-power-distance society like the ones we just mentioned people depend on authority. People rely on superiors and formal rules and the subordinate-superior relations are emotional.

Choosing to vaccinate political leaders before the other people sent a sign and set a good example for citizens. The action aims to influence their choices, following the actions of politicians who act as role models.

Long-term vs short-term orientation

Also in some other countries like the U.S. the role culture has played in the Coronavirus vaccination decision-making process has been important, leading them to decide to vaccinate first health-care employees and people living in nursing homes. This choice can be linked to another interesting Hofstede’s cultural dimension: long-term/short-term orientation.

Doctors and nurses during this pandemic, have been like soldiers at the frontline. In some cases, during the most difficult days, they didn’t even have the right tools and equipments to protect themselves.

The interesting debate that preceded the decision about who to vaccinate first between elderly and essential workers shows exactly the elements of that cultural dimension: is it more important to maintain some links with our own past while dealing with the challenges of the present and future or to have quick results? Societies can prioritize these two existential goals differently.

Individualism/collectivism

Most of the Western European countries decided to vaccinate elderly people first.

Germany vaccinated a 101-year-old woman first. She lives in a long-term care home in Sassonia-Anhalt, a region that decided to start the vaccination campaign one day before the official European V-Day. Senior citizens from Spain, France, Croatia, Austria were all enthusiastic to receive the vaccine as first in their respective countries.

According to the Hofstede’s model, on this aspect, another important dimension is worth mentioning: individualism/collectivism. We can identify the countries that have decided to vaccinate elderly people first as more collectivist. In collectivist societies, people belong to groups that take care of them in exchange for loyalty. The decision on vaccinating elderly people can also reflect the aim of protecting the most vulnerable category. Another important element of collectivistic societies.

In most of the individualistic societies the pandemic has contributed to produce a shift for a more individualistic to a more collectivist mindset. Wearing the mask is a behaviour that puts the collectivity before the individual. You are not wearing a mask to protect yourself but to protect the others. This change in the mentality has not been easy. And the same has happened in the debates around who to vaccinate first: elderly or essential workers.

Following the guidelines and the frameworks suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO) most of the countries set reducing deaths and disease burden as their priority and so started to vaccinate elderly people, people of all ages with comorbid and health care workers.

The European V-Day was also a strong sign of unity. A sense of belonging to the EU and being in this pandemic together. According to the Italian newspaper “La Repubblica”, many countries waited for V-Day to start the campaign, even if they already had the vaccines. Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, highlighted this in a video message on Twitter: “Today, we start turning the page on a difficult year. The #COVID19 vaccine has been delivered to all EU countries. Vaccination will begin tomorrow across the EU. The #EUvaccinationdays are a touching moment of unity. Vaccination is the lasting way out of the pandemic.”

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