The campaign for Covid-19 vaccine requires a 360-degree approach

As India readies to kick off a Covid-19 vaccination programme, an awareness campaign unlike any the country has seen in terms of sheer scale and urgency will be key to achieving its goal of universal coverage.

Some lessons can be drawn from the two-decade-long pulse polio mass immunisation campaign that was memorably captured by an iconic phrase: “Do boond zindagi ki (Two drops of life).” The result was that in March 2014, the World Health Organisation recognised India as polio-free. 

Although India has announced two vaccines at the start of the new year, the much anticipated news has, however, failed to cheer up all sections, with allegations of regulatory haste in granting approval and a spat between the two biotech firms muddying the waters.

While the controversy over the nature of the vaccine is ongoing, according to communication experts a bigger problem facing governments globally is that of “vaccine hesitancy”, which refers to delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines by people despite their availability.

According to Sandeep Goyal, brand expert and founder of Mogae Group, “A lot of people think ‘if I haven’t been infected and my body is strong enough to resist the virus, why should I get vaccinated?’ So, vaccine is not universally welcome.” Here, he adds, the role of pure communication, be it advertising or public relations, is vital. 

Health experts, who are involved in training vaccinators, have also reported hesitancy among beneficiaries including health care workers. 

So advertising pundits identify vaccine hesitancy as a primary communication challenge.

It didn’t help that last weekend, soon after India's drug regulator cleared the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, Covishield (manufactured by Serum Institute of India) and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for emergency use, the heads of the two companies engaged in a war of words before calling truce. What made matters worse was that the government unwittingly got caught in what was a commercial dispute between two companies over the efficacy of their vaccines.

“The government should keep out of such a discussion. The more it gets into it, the more it (vaccine) starts taking a political colour,” says Goyal. Instead, the focus of the communication should be that “vaccine is good for everyone”, and not which is a good vaccine or not.

There is no precedent for a public health drive of this scale, says Kunal Lalani, ad guru and CMD, The Crayons Network, whose group handled the Congress’s successful campaign in 2009. He calls for a massive outreach programme that adopts a multi-pronged strategy of communicating through above-the-line (mass media such as TV, radio, billboards) and below-the-line (advertising targeting individuals or specific groups directly) channels. In rural areas, particularly, awareness of Covid-19 the vaccine has to be increased, he adds.

“The government has to take a 360-degree approach. The only problem with a pandemic is that there is a race against time. So you cannot have a 60-day plan. Communication has to move hand in hand with each and every step of the vaccine rollout,” he says.

Lalani adds that unlike the pulse polio campaign, which was targeted for only children, the Covid challenge is much bigger as it aims to cover the entire population.

Actor Amitabh Bachchan, who lent his voice to the polio campaign, has revealed earlier that advertising veteran Piyush Pandey got him to portray an “angry old man” persona to admonish audiences for not taking the immunisation drive seriously. This was after a polio outbreak in 2002. The ad campaign, followed by other advertisements where more celebrities joined ranks with Bachchan, are believed to have played a persuasive role.

In today’s world, “influencers” at various levels can play a similarly important role, says Lalani. For the Covid vaccination, he recommends regionalised endorsements.

Goyal, however, suggests the government should not over-rely on celebrities “for a cause where they aren't required”. He is more in favour of putting on the forefront experts such as Anthony Fauci, the immunologist slated to be US president-elect Joe Biden's chief medical adviser.

Another caveat is the inevitable circulation of fake news and misinformation on social media. “One has to seriously consider how to control rumours, fake data and information. Whether the vaccination campaign goes well or not, there will be a lot of fake content online and you can’t stop it,” cautions Lalani.

The government, he adds, has to combat this strongly through official dissemination of accurate information.