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Der NDR-Audio-Podcast "Das Coronavirus-Update" war in der COVID-19-Pandemie ein besonders erfolgreiches Format des öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunks, das das Ziel verfolgte, mit Hilfe von Gesundheitsexpert:innen wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse einem breiten Laienpublikum verständlich zu vermitteln. Der vorliegende Beitrag widmet sich auf Basis einer qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse der Transkripte von 113 Podcast-Folgen subjektiven Medientheorien im Podcast und fragt, inwieweit im Rahmen des Formats Vorstellungen zu a) Medieninhalten, deren b) Entstehungsbedingungen und c) Wirkungen vermittelt wurden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass subjektive Medientheorien im Podcast regelmäßig formuliert wurden, wobei häufig ein tendenziell negatives Medienbild gezeichnet und ein starker Einfluss der Medieninhalte auf die öffentliche Meinung und das politische Handeln angenommen wurde., The NDR audio podcast "Das Coronavirus-Update" ("The Coronavirus Update") was a particularly successful format of German public broadcasting during the COVID-19 pandemic, which pursued the goal of understandably communicating scientific facts to a broad lay audience with the help of health experts. Based on a qualitative content analysis of the transcripts of 113 podcast episodes, this paper addresses subjective (lay) media theories in the podcast and asks to what extent the podcast presents which ideas about a) media content, its b) conditions of origin and its c) effects. The results show that lay theories of mass media were regularly formulated in the podcast which often drew a negative image of the media and assumed a strong influence of media content on public opinion and political action.

In Gesundheitskrisen wie der COVID-19-Pandemie stellt die massenmediale Berichterstattung eine zentrale Informationsquelle dar. Sie wird dabei nicht nur individuell genutzt und verarbeitet, sondern auch gemeinsam rezipiert, im sozialen Umfeld besprochen oder in Sozialen Medien diskutiert. Wie sich die interpersonale Kommunikation über pandemiebezogene Berichterstattung gestaltet, ist jedoch selten beforscht worden. Der Beitrag widmet sich daher der Anschlusskommunikation zur Medienberichterstattung in der COVID-19-Pandemie. In einer qualitativen Interviewstudie mit 22 Teilnehmenden fragen wir nach (a) Kommunikationspartner:innen, (b) den kommunikativen Rollen innerhalb der Anschlusskommunikation, (c) den Funktionen der Anschlusskommunikation sowie (d) nach potentiellen Veränderungen im Zeitverlauf. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Anschlusskommunikation (a) insbesondere mit Familie und Freund:innen im direkten sozialen Umfeld stattfindet, aber auch zur Entstehung neuer Beziehungen beiträgt. Sie erfolgt (b) vor allem auf Augenhöhe, sodass die Rolle der Austauscher:innen dominiert, wobei manche Personen als Multiplikator:innen fungieren. Die Anschlusskommunikation erfüllt (c) die Funktion des Teilens und Erhaltens von Informationen, der Informationsvalidierung und gemeinsamen Wahrheitssuche sowie dem Coping mit negativen Emotionen. Veränderungen im Zeitverlauf (d) sind vor allem mit Blick auf das (Themen-)Interesse und die Kommunikationsrollen zu beobachten., In health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, mass media coverage is a key source of information. It is not only used and processed individually, but also used collectively, discussed within people’s personal social network, or on social media. However, how interpersonal communication about pandemic-related media coverage is shaped has rarely been researched. This chapter therefore addresses the follow-up communication about media coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a qualitative interview study with 22 participants, we ask about (a) the communication partners, (b) the communicative roles within the follow-up communication, (c) the functions of the follow-up communication, as well as (d) potential changes over time. The results show that follow-up communication (a) takes place especially with family and friends in the immediate social network, but also contributes to the formation of new relationships. It takes place (b) primarily at eye level, so that the role of the exchanger dominates, with some people acting as multipliers. The follow-up communication fulfills (c) the function of sharing and receiving information, information validation and joint truth-seeking, as well as coping with negative emotions. Changes over time can (d) particularly be observed with regard to (topic) interest and communication roles.

Mindestsicherungssysteme dienen in den meisten entwickelten Wohlfahrtsstaaten als Sicherheitsnetz letzter Instanz. Dementsprechend spielen sie gerade in wirtschaftlichen Krisenzeiten eine besondere Rolle. Inwieweit Mindestsicherungssysteme in Zeiten der Krise beansprucht werden, hängt auch von der Ausprägung vorgelagerter Sozialschutzsysteme ab. Diese Studie untersucht die Bedeutung von Systemen der Mindestsicherung sowie vorgelagerter Systeme wie Arbeitslosenversicherung, Kurzarbeit und arbeitsrechtlichem Bestandsschutz für die Krisenfestigkeit in Europa. Im Kontext der Finanzkrise von 2008/2009 und der Corona-Krise wird die Fähigkeit sozialpolitischer Maßnahmen untersucht, Armut und Einkommens­verluste einzudämmen und gesellschaftliche Ausgrenzung zu vermeiden. Die Studie setzt dabei auf quantitative und qualitative Methoden, etwa multivariate Analysen, Mikrosimulationsmethoden sowie eingehende Fallstudien der Länder Dänemark, Frankreich, Irland, Polen und Spanien, die für unterschiedliche Typen von Wohlfahrtsstaaten stehen., The aim of this study is to analyse the role of social policies in different European welfare states regarding minimum income protection and active inclusion. The core focus lies on crisis resilience, i.e. the capacity of social policy arrangements to contain poverty and inequality and avoid exclusion before, during and after periods of economic shocks. To achieve this goal, the study expands its analytical focus to include other tiers of social protection, in particular upstream systems such as unemployment insurance, job retention and employment protection, as they play an additional and potentially prominent role in providing income and job protection in situations of crisis. A mixed-method approach is used that combines quantitative and qualitative research, such as descriptive and multivariate quantitative analyses, microsimulation methods and in-depth case studies. The study finds consistent differences in terms of crisis resilience across countries and welfare state types. In general, Nordic and Continental European welfare states with strong upstream systems and minimum income support (MIS) show better outcomes in core socio-economic outcomes such as poverty and exclusion risks. However, labour market integration shows some dualisms in Continental Europe. The study shows that MIS holds particular importance if there are gaps in upstream systems or cases of severe and lasting crises.

Mindestsicherungssysteme dienen in den meisten entwickelten Wohlfahrtsstaaten als Sicherheitsnetz letzter Instanz. Dementsprechend spielen sie gerade in wirtschaftlichen Krisenzeiten eine besondere Rolle. Inwieweit Mindestsicherungssysteme in Zeiten der Krise beansprucht werden, hängt auch von der Ausprägung vorgelagerter Sozialschutzsysteme ab. Diese Studie untersucht die Bedeutung von Systemen der Mindestsicherung sowie vorgelagerter Systeme wie Arbeitslosenversicherung, Kurzarbeit und arbeitsrechtlichem Bestandsschutz für die Krisenfestigkeit in Europa. Im Kontext der Finanzkrise von 2008/2009 und der Corona-Krise wird die Fähigkeit sozialpolitischer Maßnahmen untersucht, Armut und Einkommens­verluste einzudämmen und gesellschaftliche Ausgrenzung zu vermeiden. Die Studie setzt dabei auf quantitative und qualitative Methoden, etwa multivariate Analysen, Mikrosimulationsmethoden sowie eingehende Fallstudien der Länder Dänemark, Frankreich, Irland, Polen und Spanien, die für unterschiedliche Typen von Wohlfahrtsstaaten stehen., The aim of this study is to analyse the role of social policies in different European welfare states regarding minimum income protection and active inclusion. The core focus lies on crisis resilience, i.e. the capacity of social policy arrangements to contain poverty and inequality and avoid exclusion before, during and after periods of economic shocks. To achieve this goal, the study expands its analytical focus to include other tiers of social protection, in particular upstream systems such as unemployment insurance, job retention and employment protection, as they play an additional and potentially prominent role in providing income and job protection in situations of crisis. A mixed-method approach is used that combines quantitative and qualitative research, such as descriptive and multivariate quantitative analyses, microsimulation methods and in-depth case studies. The study finds consistent differences in terms of crisis resilience across countries and welfare state types. In general, Nordic and Continental European welfare states with strong upstream systems and minimum income support (MIS) show better outcomes in core socio-economic outcomes such as poverty and exclusion risks. However, labour market integration shows some dualisms in Continental Europe. The study shows that MIS holds particular importance if there are gaps in upstream systems or cases of severe and lasting crises.

Informationsnormen stellen einen zentralen Einflussfaktor auf die Suche und Vermeidung von Informationen dar. Eine kombinierte Betrachtung von such- und vermeidungsbezogenen Informationsnormen als verschiedene Einflüsse auf Informationshandeln ist bislang jedoch nicht erfolgt. Zudem wurde kaum erforscht, inwieweit unterschiedliche Normtypen (deskriptive und injunktive Norm) und Bezugsgruppen bei der Betrachtung von Normeffekten auf Informationshandeln notwendig sind. Im Rahmen einer Längsschnittbefragung (N = 493) mit vier Wellen werden dazu mittels konfirmatorischer Faktoranalysen drei Normkonzepte verglichen. Dann wird der Einfluss verschiedener Informationsnormen auf Informationssuche und -vermeidung zu COVID-19 anhand von hybriden Within-Between Modellen betrachtet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass keines der geprüften Normkonzepte zur Differenzierung von COVID-19 Informationsnormen geeignet ist. Bei der Betrachtung der Normeffekte auf Single Item Ebene zeigt sich, dass Suchnormen die Suche und Vermeidungsnormen die Vermeidung von Informationen stärker beeinflussen. Das persönliche Umfeld ist als Bezugsgruppe einflussreicher als die Gesellschaft. Deskriptive und injunktive Normen sind (unabhängig von der Bezugsgruppe) ähnlich bedeutsam. Auf der Within-Ebene lassen sich vielfältige Effekte feststellen, wobei die Normeffekte auf der Between-Ebene stärker sind. Die Studie biete somit Ansatzpunkte für ein detailliertes Verständnis von Normeffekten auf Informationshandeln., Information norms are one of the central predictors of information seeking and avoidance. However, a combined investigation of seeking-related and avoidance-related information norms as different effects on information behavior has not yet taken place. Furthermore, little research has been conducted on the importance of different norm types (descriptive and injunctive norm) and reference groups when considering norm effects on information behavior. Based on a longitudinal survey (N = 493) with four waves, three norm concepts are tested via confirmatory factor analyses. Subsequently, the influence of different norm types and reference groups on COVID-19 information seeking and avoidance is investigated using hybrid within-between models. None of the tested norm concepts are proven to be suitable. Examining norm effects based on single items reveals that seeking norms exert a stronger influence on information seeking, whereas avoidance norms influence information avoidance more strongly. The reference group of the personal environment is more influential than societal norms, while descriptive and injunctive norms appear to be similarly meaningful (regardless of the reference group). Multiple effects can be identified at the within-level, although norm effects are stronger at the between-level. The study thus offers a starting point for a more nuanced understanding of information norm effects on informationbehavior.

The global COVID-19 pandemic brought many challenges for the world including the downfall in foreign direct investment inflows (FDI). Although there are many other factors which cause a decline in FDI inflows in Pakistan but present study mainly focuses on COVID-19 pandemic as this resulted in closures of borders causing a sharp decline in FDI inflows. For this purpose, this study uses monthly data of Pakistan, starting from January 2020 (start of COVID-19 in Pakistan) till May 2022 (time period in which study has been conducted) to empirically analyze the relationship between FDI inflows and COVID-19. The results of ADF test statistic show that data is integrated of order (1). Johansen Co-integration approach is used to determine the relationship. Taking FDI inflows as a dependent variable and COVID-19 cases as an independent variable, the results suggest a linear co-integration relationship between these two variables with FDI inflows having a negative sign indicating a negative relationship between FDI inflows and COVID-19 cases. This study is innovative in the sense that it concentrates on finding a proper empirical relationship between FDI inflows and COVID-19 and does not focus only in analyzing existing figures. Empirical results suggest that Pakistan must devise such policies that can be implemented immediately in such unforeseen conditions as more and new variants are coming to surface. The availability of data puts a limitation on application of empirical technique since COVID-19 started in 2020 in Pakistan and the pandemic is still not over. In coming years, a time series analysis would be possible to carry a long run investigation. The co-integration technique is the most useful at the moment as it not only mentions the relationship between the variables during pandemic but also makes a future forecast.

Pharmacies played an important role in society during the pandemic, being visited by customers more often than before. Communication with them was more intense, and this allowed the pharmacies to expand into other types of services. The study presents the changes produced on the Romanian pharmacy market from the perspective of the customers. It measured the confidence of pharmacists, the degree of information about the services offered, the attitude towards new services (measuring blood pressure, blood sugar, osteoporosis, etc.) and opinions about vaccination in pharmacies. The results of the research showed that people have a very high degree of confidence in the advice they receive in pharmacies. The pharmacies provide basic services (dispense of medication, information on their use, and tips for improving the health), but less services for health testing, preparation of medicines, and involvement in health care programs. Citizens want to benefit from the new services that pharmacies are offering now (rapid tests for blood pressure, glucose or infections), but they are reluctant to testing spirometry, osteodensitometry, skin cancer and age related degenerative diseases (Alzheimer's) at pharmacies. However, vaccination in pharmacies is the most strongly rejected, especially by women, people with higher education, high incomes, and chronically ill.

COVID-19 has had huge impacts on households across the world. The economic impact is particularly great in Africa. This paper analyses the role of social protection in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on household welfare measured in terms of ability to afford food. The results of panel logit regressions on data from 1 925 Nigerian households show that social protection in the form of food or direct cash transfers is associated with a higher probability of households being able to afford the food they need. This positive effect is, however, offset by the increasing intensity of the pandemic. Our results are robust even when using alternative measures of pandemic intensity and controlling for household characteristics. This implies the need for more robust social protection programmes (such as health insurance and employment benefits) that are responsive to household needs, especially in times of crisis.

Background: COVID-19 is a threat to individual and global health, thus, reducing the disease's spread is of significant importance. However, adherence to behavioral measures against the spread of COVID-19 is not universal, even within vulnerable populations who are at higher risk of exposure to the virus or severe COVID-19 infection. Therefore, this study investigates how risk-group membership relates to adherence to COVID-19 behavioral measures, whether perceived threat of COVID-19 is a mechanism explaining this relationship, and whether knowledge about COVID-19 moderates these effects. Methods: We conducted a web-based survey (N = 4,096) representative of the adult population in Germany with regard to gender, age (18 to 74), and province. Therein, we assessed risk group membership with two indicators (risk of exposure to COVID-19 and risk of severe COVID-19 infection), perceived COVID-19 threat with the Perceived Coronavirus Threat Questionnaire, knowledge about COVID-19 with a knowledge test; and adherence to six behavioral measures to protect against the spread of COVID-19 (e.g., keeping distance, using mouth-nose protection, and following contact restrictions). We used moderated mediation models to test whether perceived threat mediates the relationship between risk-group membership and adherence and whether knowledge about COVID-19 moderates this relationship. Results: We found that risk group members had more perceived COVID-19 threat and that knowledge about COVID-19 increased perceived threat. Moreover, risk group membership had a positive direct effect on adherence to most behavioral measures and risk group members with less knowledge about COVID-19 violated measures more frequently. Risk-group membership also had positive indirect effects on adherence via perceived COVID-19 threat. The moderated indirect effects of threat indicate that threat led to more adherence when knowledge was low, but lost relevance as knowledge increased. Conclusion: The results m

Die Coronapandemie stellt die Gesellschaft vor große Herausforderungen. Vielen Menschen mangelt es an (elementaren) naturwissenschaftlichen Kenntnissen. Sie sind skeptisch und misstrauen grundlegenden Prinzipien und Konzepten der Forschung. Esoterik und (Aber-) Glaube ersetzen ihnen den Zugang zur Wirklichkeit. Nicht nur Fakten sind neuerdings "alternativ". Auch pseudowissenschaftliche Heilmethoden und okkulte Verfahren wurden der Bevölkerung trotz fehlender Wirksamkeitsnachweise lange als gleichwertige Alternativen zur modernen Medizin präsentiert. Ganz so, als wären Vernunft oder Unsinn eben eine Frage des persönlichen Geschmacks, einer anderen Weltanschauung. Sekundiert durch das Gerede von einem "übertrieben szientistischen Weltbild", wurden Empirie und Logik systematisch diffamiert. Infolge dieses Zerrbilds grassieren nun allerhand Verschwörungstheorien. Geistheiler, Seher, Schamanen, Scharlatane, Quacksalber, Sektierer, und Eiferer aller Richtungen und Couleur haben Konjunktur. Ein diffuses Pandemiemanagement und eine miserable Kommunikation tun ihr Übriges und tragen dazu bei, dass Infektionsschutzmaßnahmen oft rundweg abgelehnt und Impfquoten sich nun kaum noch signifikant steigern lassen., The corona pandemic poses major challenges for society. Many people lack (basic) scientific knowledge. They are skeptical and distrust fundamental research principles and concepts. Esotericism and superstition replace them access to reality. Not only facts are recently considered "alternative". Pseudo-scientific healing methods and occult procedures have long been presented to the public as equivalent alternatives to modern medicine, despite the lack of evidence of their effectiveness. Just as if reason or nonsense were just a question of personal taste, a different world view. Seconded by talk of an "exaggeratedly scientific world view", empiricism and logic were systematically defamed. As a result of this distorted picture, all kinds of conspiracy theories are now rampant. Spiritual healers, seers, shamans, charlatans, quacks, sectarians, and zealots of all stripes and persuasions are in demand. Diffuse pandemic management and miserable communication do the rest and contribute to the fact that infection control measures are often flatly rejected and vaccination rates can hardly be increased significantly.

Objectives: The article analyzes the epidemiological and political logics of protest against containment policies in Germany. To maximize the mobilization potential, protest organizers organize more protest events when Covid-19 mortality rates are low, the stringency of containment policies is high, and in districts in which the vote share of mainstream parties is traditionally low. Method: Using a negative binomial model, we analyze the number of protest events in a sample of 401 German districts over the period from March to May 2020. Results: We find robust positive predicted effects of the stringency of containment policies and negative predicted effects for the mortality rate and the strengths of mainstream parties. Conclusion: We interpret these findings as evidence of the strategic behavior of protest organizers that target protest participation and mobilization to keep the movement alive and potentially grow it.

The year 2020 will always be remembered with the imprints left by COVID-19 on our lives. While the pandemic has had many undesirable effects for the whole world, one of its biggest side effects has been the fast digital transformation that has taken place, which was already in progress with the Industry 4.0 era. The readily available technology and wireless communications infrastructures paved the way for a myriad of digital technologies for the containment of the disease using mobile contact tracing applications developed by health authority organizations in many countries. The mounting privacy concerns especially with Bluetooth-enabled proximity tracing and centralized tracking technologies used by these applications have given rise to the development of new privacy-preserving contact tracing protocols. Although these new protocols have alleviated the privacy concerns of citizens to a certain extent, widespread adoption is still far from being the reality. In this paper, we analyze existing contact tracing technologies from a human-centric standpoint by focusing on their privacy implications. We present our comprehensive dataset consisting of the contact tracing application usage information in 94 countries and provide results of a multinational survey we have conducted on the sentiments of people regarding contact tracing applications. The survey results demonstrate that privacy concerns are still the leading deterrent for people when deciding whether to use these applications. Nevertheless, it is a globally accepted argument that the most effective and fastest method for contact tracking will be digital technologies free from human errors and manual procedures. Accordingly, it is concluded that a policy of developing decentralized tracking solutions based entirely on user privacy should be followed, in which independent trusted third parties assume the role of authority in the system architecture, if absolutely necessary, in order to effectively combat the pande

Hintergrund: Impfungen stellen eine bedeutende Präventionsmaßnahme dar. Grundlegend für die Eindämmung der Coronapandemie mittels Durchimpfung der Gesellschaft ist eine ausgeprägte Impfbereitschaft. Ziel der Arbeit: Die Impfbereitschaft mit einem COVID‑19-Vakzin (Impfstoff gegen das Coronavirus) und deren Einflussfaktoren werden anhand einer Zufallsstichprobe der Gesamtbevölkerung in Deutschland untersucht. Material und Methoden: Die Studie basiert auf einer telefonischen Zufallsstichprobe und berücksichtigt ältere und vorerkrankte Personen ihrem Bevölkerungsanteil entsprechend. Die Ein-Themen-Bevölkerungsbefragung zur Impfbereitschaft (n = 2014) wurde im November/Dezember 2020 durchgeführt. Ergebnisse: Die Impfbereitschaft in der Stichprobe liegt bei rund 67 %. Vorerfahrungen mit Impfungen moderieren die Impfbereitschaft. Sie steigt bei Zugehörigkeit zu einer Risikogruppe. Der Glaube an die Wirksamkeit alternativer Heilmethoden und Befürwortung alternativer Behandlungsverfahren geht mit geringerer Impfbereitschaft einher. Ältere Menschen sind impfbereiter, kovariierend mit ihrer Einschätzung höherer Gefährdung bei Erkrankung. Ebenso ist die Ablehnung einer Impfung mit der Überschätzung von Nebenwirkungen assoziiert. Schlussfolgerung: Die Impfbereitschaft hängt mit Impferfahrungen und Einstellungen zu Gesundheitsbehandlungsverfahren allgemein zusammen. Die Überschätzung der Häufigkeit ernsthafter Nebenwirkungen bei Impfungen weist auf weit verbreitete Fehlinformationen hin., Background: Globally, vaccination is an important preventive measure. A pronounced willingness to vaccinate is fundamental for the containment of the Coronavirus pandemic by means of vaccination coverage of society. Objectives: The willingness to be vaccinated with a COVID‑19 (coronavirus vaccine) vaccine and its influencing factors are investigated using a random sample of the total population in Germany. Materials and methods: The study is based on a random telephone sample and considers older and previously ill persons according to their proportion in population. The single-topic study on willingness to be vaccinated (n = 2014) was conducted in November/December 2020. Results: The willingness to be vaccinated in the sample is around 67%. Previous experience with vaccinations moderates the willingness to vaccinate. It increases with membership to a risk population. Belief in the efficacy of alternative healing methods and advocacy of alternative treatment procedures are associated with lower willingness to be vaccinated. Older people are more willing to be vaccinated, covarying with their assessment of higher risk in case of illness. Similarly, rejection of vaccination is associated with overestimation of side effects. Conclusions: Willingness to vaccinate is related to vaccination experiences and attitudes towards health care procedures in general. The overestimation of the frequency of serious side effects with vaccinations indicates widespread misinformation.

Despite one of the fastest rates of economic growth among the European Union countries in 2010-2019, Poland did not experience any significant improvement in meeting the housing needs of less affluent households. The stock of municipal housing is characterised by low availability and a high degree of asset depreciation as well as growing rent arrears. In the face of the upcoming economic downturn caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic, the implementation of municipal tasks in the field of housing will be further hindered. To prevent this, the authors present a number of recommendations for regulatory changes for local government units and central institutions that will improve the implementation of the state's housing policies in the field of municipal housing.