CommCore Blog and News

For many reasons, public trust in the government institutions involved in the vaccine development process continues to wane. While reputation restoration for government agencies is critically important, there are a myriad of political pitfalls that factor in their responses. Pharmaceutical companies – often in reputation cross hairs for pricing issues – have been filling the void and improving their individual and collective perceptions among patients, policy makers and regulators.

In the context of whether an FDA decision would be influenced by political consideration, nine drug companies involved in vaccine development signed a safety pledge. They promised not to seek regulatory approval before the safety and efficacy of their experimental coronavirus vaccines has been established in Phase 3 clinical trials. In an unprecedented move, three companies released full roadmaps of their clinical trials, which are typically secret and highly proprietary.

• Determine the pivot point, when to become proactive in your positive messages and public outreach. This can be as short as a day or two – or months in the case of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill when the pivot point only came after the cap was placed on the flaming well.
• When it’s time, communicate to stakeholders through various channels – website statements and videos, social media, advertising, op-eds, and stakeholder meetings. If you don’t communicate, you can lose control of the narrative.
• In a fluid situation don’t make declarative statements such as announcing a “fix” or “solution” that you may need to retract.
• Listen, and monitor social media. Talk to stakeholders. Engage reporters you know and trust. Make adjustments and repeat the process as you add more actions.