Vaccination debates had always been simmering below the surface until Covid came along. Covid brought vaccine hesitancy to the fore. This includes childhood immunisation. According to The World Health Organization the COVID-19 pandemic fuelled the largest backslide in childhood vaccinations in three decades. The National Immunisation Strategy for Australia 2019–2024 vaccination coverage target of 95% for 5-year-olds has not been achieved for the last 7 quarters.

303 MullenLowe is helping the WA Department of the Premier and Cabinet and Department of Health tackle vaccine misinformation in a public awareness campaign that pulls no punches, leading with a hero commercial that is a shock tactic film at full force. The 30-second spot is supported by 15-second versions that focus on vaccinations for individual diseases

Don’t Assume You’re Immune aims to educate the public about the importance of vaccines, encourage people to get vaccinated in accordance with the WA immunisation schedule – and raise awareness of the potentially life threatening complications of vaccine-preventable diseases.

Mediahub managed media strategy, collaborating with Carat WA for the campaign’s channel implementation plan. The campaign is running for the next 12 months acrossTV, online video, social media, large and small format OOH, radio (targeted and mainstream), press, cinema, high impact digital displays and search.

303 MullenLowe Perth chief strategy officer, Matt Oakley, said with complacency, low perceived risk of disease, and misconceptions around possible side effects among the biggest barriers to vaccine uptake, the campaign’s message has been developed with “a strong sense of compassion rather than compliance.”

“The subject of vaccinations is clouded by misinformation and disinformation, so it makes behaviour change challenging. One of the biggest barriers to vaccine take-up is a sense of complacency – essentially, “it’ll never happen to me”,sodemonstrating that complacency has very real consequences was an important element to address,” he explained.

“As a result, Sara Oteri (ECD) and the creative team flipped the many excuses for not getting immunised as the very reason why people should get vaccinated. The campaign’s tagline of Don’t Assume You’re Immune is not just a memorable mnemonic, but also a call to action for our target audiences that we hope will increase the perceived risk to the health of themselves, and crucially, their loved ones.”