Scott Morrison’s ‘massive’ $40m vaccine problem

Scott Morrison is facing a “massive problem” regarding a third of Australians and experts are asking why he hasn’t done anything about it.

It’s the vaccine advertising campaign the Prime Minister has committed to spending $40 million on but experts around the country are asking “where the bloody hell is it?”.

Not since the days that Scott Morrison sent out Lara Bingle in a rainbow bikini when he headed Tourism Australia has so much been riding on a marketing plan.

But despite doctors warning Australia is a “sitting duck” for a fresh COVID outbreak, vaccine hesitancy appears to be rising with one in three Australians not sure they will get the jab.

So, what’s happening with the marketing campaign to get Australia vaccinated?

Apart from some forgettable animation ads on the internet confirming over 50s can get the jab, few people can remember seeing a vaccination ad since the “men in white coats” ads landed earlier this year featuring the Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly and his then deputy Nick Coatsworth.

It’s also raising questions over whether the PM plans to ramp up the taxpayer-funded advertising spend closer the federal election.

Marketing strategist Toby Ralph told news.com.au whatever the government was spending to date, it wasn’t working because vaccine hesitancy levels were rising.

“It’s not hard to see why. A combination of selfish millennials, tinfoil-hatted Pete Evans 5G conspiracists and nervous grannies overreacting to media yarns about a few people getting clots when they have had the AstraZeneca jab are making people circumspect about getting vaccinated,’’ he said.

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“The advertising campaign is trying to tackle this in an incredibly naive way. The ad shows a bunch of medicos essentially saying, ‘There’s very little chance the vaccine will kill you.’”

“This is anything but reassuring and motivating, all it does is underline concerns.

“We should be thrilled about breaking free from COVID, not fretting about the process. That’s what the vaccination campaign needs to centre on.

“The vaccination campaigns in New Zealand and Singapore are both upbeat, positive and use music to stress that a vaccine will bring both you and the community freedom.

“Vaccination matters for freedom and for economic recovery. The ad campaign has been misdirected, is boring and needs to be fixed by a competent communicator.

“If I was running it I’d use a music track like Queen’s ‘I want to break free’ to tell the positive story.”

Marketing strategists say it’s no surprise vaccine hesitancy is rising. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jenny Evans

Campaign Edge creative director Dee Madigan, a Labor-aligned advertising expert, concurred the current ads were “boring.”

“If you held someone hostage and made someone watch it, maybe it would work but that’s not how advertising works with the internet as there’s so many places people can hide from your ad,’’ she said.

“It’s boring. I think the vaccine rollout is a massive problem for them.”

In the meantime, doctors are warning Australia is a “sitting duck” for another outbreak, particularly until more people over 50s have been vaccinated.

The Australian Medical Association vice-president of the Australian Medical Association, Chris Moy, has warned that mixed messages over whether over 50s should wait for one vaccine or another was dangerous.

“I would say as somebody who’s sitting in some of those meetings and seeing for example what’s happening overseas where there’s a tsunami of COVID and also the development of variants, that we’re sitting ducks as a country and as individuals until we get a significant portion of the population vaccinated, particularly those over 50,” he said.

The lack of advertising campaign has raised questions over whether the government will ramp up its messaging closer to the election. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

“Because at the moment, given we have no COVID and we’re living in this really gilded cage which is disconnected from the world, people do not perceive a risk.”

Labor’s health spokesman Mark Butler said with vaccine hesitancy reportedly rising it was time to step up with a community education campaign.

“Prime Minister Scott Morrison says that the vaccination of Australians is not a race. Well, it is a race,’’ Mr Butler said.

“We are seeing around the world as with the virus mutations … the countries that did just as well as Australia in containing the original virus, like Taiwan and Singapore are seeing big outbreaks from these latest variants.

But Mr Morrison insisted there was little point rolling out an advertisement targeting people who currently can’t get the vaccine, such as those in their 30s.

“There’s $40 million that the Government is investing this year and next year in the communications campaign,’’ he said.

“But I’d make this point to you. There’s around 65 per cent of the population who are happy to get the vaccine. Right now, the focus is ensuring that those who are happy to go and do it go and do it and there’s plenty of opportunity for them to do that if they’re over 50 at present.

That’s why we encourage those who are happy to go and have that vaccine to go and get that vaccine.

“We’ll continue to have the conversation with the rest of the population about their concerns that they may have the and the best place to have that discussion is with your GP.”