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AUSTRALIA-COVID-VACCINE-ADVERTISING
Australian COVID vaccine advertising campaign to target “community
concerns”: health minister
CANBERRA, Jan. 10, 2021 (BSS/Xinhua) – Australia’s Health Minister Greg
Hunt said the government would target young women, migrants and indigenous
Australians with its coronavirus vaccine advertising campaign.
Hunt said on Sunday that the 24 million-Australian dollar campaign, which
will be rolled out within weeks before vaccinations begin in mid-February,
would be “a very detailed information program.”
Research commissioned by the government has found that about 80 percent of
Australians are willing to receive vaccines approved by the Therapeutic Goods
Administration (TGA) but that women aged 30-39 were the most likely to hold
safety concerns.
Hunt said the campaign would seek to reassure Australians’ confidence in
vaccines.
“The Department of Health invests in understanding community concerns, and
is developing information and communication to meet the needs of the
community, including pregnant women and young families,” he told Nine
Entertainment newspapers.
“We are confident, given Australia’s high vaccination coverage rates,
Australians will take up a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine in equally
high numbers.”
The government has repeatedly ruled out following the lead of other
countries in granting emergency approval for vaccines.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Thursday that the first
vaccines would be administered in February with frontline workers, people
with disabilities and the elderly to be prioritized.
“Vaccination in 2021 is a key component…of how we’re dealing with the
pandemic here in Australia,” he said.
BSS/Xinhua/MSY/1345 hrs