We face a race between new corona variants & vaccines. Stronger measures are urgent. To motivate fatigued publics, hope is more effective than fear & can be given via a new powerful visual aid: psyarxiv.com/gxcyn. Don't say "flatten the curve". We need to "buy time". 🧵(1/7) 
The "flattening the curve"-graph played a key motivating role in initial phases of the pandemic. The message was: Move infections from the present to the future. With vaccines, this is no longer the case as they remove future infections. Those saved now are saved for good. (2/7)
Yet, more infectious variants require stronger epidemic control here and now (cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092…). Publics globally are fatigued (apps.who.int/iris/bitstream…) and, hence, motivating health communication is as important as ever. (3/7)
Research during the pandemic has shown that feelings of hope are as, if not more, important than feelings of fear (journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.11…). A new visual comm aid should not only be epidemologically realistic but also speak to the human capacity for hope. (4/7)
The "buying time with hope"-graph is build on epidemological models of the variants-vs.-vaccines race. In an experiment (N=3,022), it increases support for stronger measures & adherence to health guidelines. A graph focused just on the threat of the new variants doesn't. (5/7)
Motivating publics against new variants is urgently needed. In cross-national surveys (N=3,995), only 58 % report changed behavior because of new variants, even if 83 % know of them. This applies even in UK, the most affected country. Knowledge doesn't always breed change. (6/7)
Finally, the required level of public action depends on many factors as shown in this graph (e.g., infectiousness & speed of vaccine roll-out). Under many scenarios, effective comm becomes more pressing than ever. We urge this communication to appeal to hope, not just fear. (7/7)
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