Department of Health launching $23.9m COVID-19 vaccination campaign

The next phase of the Federal Government’s public coronavirus campaign will focus on education ahead of vaccinations becoming available for Australians in the first half of 2021.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health has confirmed to Mumbrella that a national public education program is in the works, created with $23.9 million in funding from the Federal Government.

The campaign is currently in development, but the spokesperson confirmed it will include national advertising across multiple channels.

“The Government [has] committed $23.9 million in MYEFO for a national public education campaign to be rolled out to inform Australians of the COVID-19 vaccination program,” the spokesperson said.

While there’s no timeline yet available for the vaccination campaign rollout, Australia’s agreements with COVID-19 vaccine suppliers are set to see three separate vaccines available in the first half of 2021.

According to the national health website, Australia’s agreements for the supply of COVID-19 vaccines will see each of the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Novavax and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines become available in the coming months.

The forthcoming campaign will help to create “confidence” in the forthcoming vaccines, the spokesperson said, and will also include “communication specifically for priority groups, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

“Communication will help ensure confidence in the rigour of Australia’s approval process and encourage uptake of the vaccine when the time comes.”

The new campaign will follow on from several national and state-based health campaigns to be released since the coronavirus pandemic began, the latest of which rolled out in November via BMF Australia and focussed on the issue of mental health during lockdowns and isolation.

In May 2020, the Federal Government released a series of tv, radio, outdoor and social media ads to encourage Australians to download the ultimately ill-fated and ineffective COVIDSafe contact tracing app.

Media buying for the Federal Government is handled by Universal McCann (UM), an IPG Mediabrands agency.