Do we need a national vaccination campaign to boost vaccine uptake?

DR NORMAN SWAN, REPORTER: Australia has a good track record when it comes to community advertising campaigns aimed at changing behaviours.

(Extract from anti-smoking advertisement)

NORMAN SWAN: But the COVID campaigns have been criticised as pedestrian and not hitting the mark and adapting to changing attitudes to COVID vaccination.

(Extract from COVID campaign)

DR NICK COATSWORTH, INFECTIOUS DISEASES PHYSICIAN: COVID-19 vaccines continue to roll out to those most at risk…

(End of extract)

PROF. BILL BOWTELL, UNSW: I’m afraid to say that the present campaign just is not cutting it.

NORMAN SWAN: Mind you, to be fair, the vaccine rollout has had unforeseen challenges as well.

PROF. PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER (8 April 2021): At the current time, the use of the Pfizer vaccine is preferred over the AstraZeneca vaccine in adults aged less than 50 years.

NORMAN SWAN: Associate Professor Margie Danchin is an immunisation researcher who has today released a comprehensive report on COVID vaccine hesitancy.

A/PROF. MARGIE DANCHIN, VACCINE RESEARCHER, MCRI: We have been doing a lot of qualitative research listening to community leaders, faith leaders, Indigenous people.

It’s really clear to me that their concerns can be allayed and again it’s mostly around that TTS syndrome, but people want to interpret that risk in terms of their own personal eligibility and their own underlying medical conditions and that takes a conversation, it takes engagement and really good vaccine communication skills.

PROF. JULIE LEASK, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY: If you think about a path to getting vaccinated which is the behaviour itself, it’s the action, then you have got the way people think and feel about vaccination, social influences and those both influence people’s motivations to vaccinate or not.

NORMAN SWAN: Professor Julie Leask chairs the behavioural and social drivers of vaccination working group for the World Health Organization.

JULIE LEASK: We have had all these different messages about which group can have the vaccine now, whether there is enough supply.

The Health Minister has indicated that there isn’t a plan for a big advertising campaign right now and that it’s enough to see people getting vaccinated.

Nevertheless, right now it is still important for those people who may be willing to have a vaccine to be encouraged and reminded through a big campaign.

(Extract from COVID advertising from New Zealand)

JENNY MAK, OGILVY AUSTRALIA: Countries like New Zealand are really interesting because, like here, the risk of contracting COVID-19 is less likely, so they have used things like humour and unique cultural insights to land their message.

NORMAN SWAN: Jenny Mak is creative director of one of Australia’s largest advertising agencies, the Ogilvy Group.

JENNY MAK: When you are in a country like the US or the UK and there is a real fear-factor, it’s certainly going to play into it, and I think what they have done is really smart by balancing it out with a touch of humour and again the use of celebrity to really normalise that behaviour of getting the vaccination I think is important.

DOLLY PARTON (Singing): Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I’m begging of you please don’t hesitate.

MARGIE DANCHIN: We need to using humour, it needs to be light-hearted, have celebrities, relatable people and really tapping into the emotion, so that emotion around, this is our way to have freedom.

(Extract from COVID advertisement from the US)

PRODUCER: Okay, thanks Elton. We’ll let you know.

ELTON JOHN: Oh, well, at this short notice you won’t find anyone bigger.

MICHAEL CAINE: I’ve just had a vaccine for COVID.

(End of extract)

JENNY MAK: The scale of the campaign is important. The campaign and the communication strategy needs to show up where people with are going to see it. I think, where we can, to have a consistent message, to have a very clear call to action and have something that is going to inspire and motivate people.

The other thing to think beyond the scale is the style of communication and what I mean by that is, I don’t think there’s a single way to do it.

(Extract from COVID commercial from Singapore)

JULIE LEASK: I like some of the overseas campaigns. They mostly have a gain frame of what you gain from being vaccinated, rather than what you lose from not being vaccinated.

In other words, the risk of COVID and that gain frame is probably quite helpful now because people have been saturated with fear messages.

MARGIE DANCHIN: Most of the resources are framed against the prevention of severe disease but that isn’t it resonating with people in the community because there isn’t much disease at the moment. So we need to really frame the benefits more broadly.

NORMAN SWAN: In America some states are offering inducements such as free doughnuts, beer or even a lottery ticket in return for a jab.

Here some doctors are offering a free lollipop – sadly I never got one of those with my Astra jab.

Now there is even talk of vaccine passports to travel interstate.

PAUL KELLY: I think we really do need to look for incentives, as many incentives as we can.

NORMAN SWAN: It is clear there is plenty of research to guide an innovative, effective Australian vaccine campaign which will need to balance what is in it for you and me with what has got us through the last year.