<
https://theconversation.com/new-ad-urges-us-to-take-on-winter-by-getting-covid-and-flu-vaccines-but-it-misses-some-key-things-185600>
"The federal government has released a new A$11 million ad campaign urging
Australians to “take on winter” by getting COVID boosters and influenza
vaccines, as well as promoting COVID vaccination for children.
The ads come at a crucial time. COVID booster vaccination rates have plateaued
at 70% and only about 40% of children aged 5-11 have had two doses.
Yet COVID boosters – a third dose for most adults, or fourth dose for people
over 65 years and in high risk groups – are critical. They increase protection
against severe disease, which wanes within three months of the second COVID
vaccine dose.
While most children experience relatively mild COVID symptoms, some children,
including those who were previously healthy, can get very sick and need to be
admitted to hospital. We don’t want kids to get COVID and vaccination can help
to protect them.
On top of COVID, we’re also experiencing our biggest flu season since 2019,
which has hit hard and early.
Older adults and children six months to five years are among the groups at the
highest risk from flu. And since we’ve had no flu season during the pandemic,
children under two years have never been exposed and have no immunity.
But while the government’s new ads get some things right, they miss the mark in
other areas: they don’t connect on an emotional level by highlighting
meaningful benefits of vaccination and they don’t address most people’s main
concerns."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
