So, the federal government continues to face criticism for the pace (or lack thereof) with which its rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine, and there's a concerning degree of hesitancy in the community to take it.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It seems that after more than a year of living through the terror and turmoil of the virus - and its long-reaching impacts on just about every facet of our lives - there's a concerning lack of urgency about getting the vaccine out, and getting people to actually take it.
Medical organisations are worried the government's messaging is falling flat, so Sco-Mo & Co are ramping up with a new media campaign to raise vaccine awareness.
Perhaps some of the hesitancy around the vaccine isn't all that surprising, though. It was only a month ago that the PM was telling those under 50 not to take the AstraZeneca vaccine unless the "benefit outweighs the risk", after troubling headlines about very rare cases of blood clots started to appear on nation's front pages and the 6pm bulletin.
As the Chief medical officer Paul Kelly said at the time, those reports were rightly of very serious concern, but they were extremely rare - around four to six cases per million doses.
That statistic is unlikely to be of much comfort to those who were one of those extremely rare cases, but it is vital that we keep the statistics in perspective and not allow our complacency to undermine all that we have fought for up to now.
AMA deputy president Chris Moy said today that Australians were living in a "gilded cage" with few cases of the virus, and we're not perceiving the very real risk the virus still poses.
"Seeing for example what is happening overseas where there is a tsunami of COVID and also the development of variants, we are sitting ducks until we get a significant proportion of the population vaccinated," he said.
The fact of the matter is, the vaccine is safe, its remarkably effective, and it's our best (and kind of only) chance of protecting ourselves, our community, and trying to salvage some sense of what normal life used to look like.
But how do we get that message out there?
Well, the feds' plan is to spend about $40 million on a media campaign, which is expected to start popping up on your teles in the next few weeks. What this new campaign will look like specifically still has a bit of a question mark over it, but it's expected to focus on those happy to get vaccinated and do their bit for themselves, their loved ones, and their community.
Government ads have a bit of a complicated and colourful history with this kind of thing. On the one hand, there have been some incredibly effective slogans over the years that have unified us under a shared banner of civic responsibility. Think: "Keep Calm and Carry On" or Rosie Riveter's "We can do it!". And, for the millennials in the room, "Yes we can".
Simple and effective messaging that galvanises us and reminds us that in times of crisis we can - and must - do our bit not just for ourselves but for our communities.
But then, on the other hand, we have more than a few examples of our elected grown-ups seemingly aiming for mediocrity and still somehow missing the mark. 'Jobs and growth', anyone?
But whatever the Canberra crew come up with, it's vital that we get this message right.
For more than a year - for the most part - we have seen Australians do what they tend to do best in a crisis; when the threat came for us, we rolled up our sleeves and bloody-well got on with it.
It was hard. It was agonisingly hard. But we looked out for each other and we did what we needed to do to get through this mess.
It's just that the work's not done yet.
There's a long way to go, and we're all going to have to roll up our sleeves a bit more to make sure we don't trip on the last hurdle.
Did you know you can receive this daily digest by email? Sign up here
- Six new clot cases linked to AstraZeneca
- Unemployment rate eases to 5.5 per cent
- Highlights of Victoria's 2021/22 budget
- Many available homes for sale in the regions already snapped up
- Virgin expands flights after COVID blow
- NSW Pfizer COVID jab clinics for over-40s
- Final Frontier: Space control will be 'realm of cyber warfare'
- One person killed after fierce fire rips through house