Increasing COVID-19 vaccine booster demand and uptake

It was early morning, the university students were chatting amongst themselves, drinking coffee, some on their way to class, others waiting for their classes to begin. Dressed like everyone else, looking like any other student, a group of youth performers from the infamous VOU Dance group patiently wait. Suddenly, the music begins with a bang, and the young VOU dancers pop up from every corner, and start dancing, much to the surprise of the unsuspecting crowd.

These young performers, with their charm, enthusiasm and talent, drew people towards them and generated an enthusiastic group of onlookers who watched them perform their moves.

While the onlookers were busy recording videos of the performance or going live on their social media accounts, they were still not privy to what all the noise was about.

At the end of an energetic performance, the dancers dispersed and ran into the crowds, distributing brochures and directed people to the vaccination site on the campus. At the same time, they kept reminding everyone that “2IsNotEnough" and encouraged people to “get their boosters”.

And that’s how we used flashmobs to make our vaccination drives interesting!

The Ministry of Health in Fiji began offering booster doses to the general population in December of last year. Information on the booster campaign was communicated through radio announcements and on the Ministry of Health’s social media sites. However, following an initial surge in people getting boosted, uptake began to taper off and coverage rates remained less than optimal.

In an attempt to understand why this was happening, the UNICEF Social and Behavior Change (SBC) team developed a rapid survey targeting those who were eligible for boosters (18+). A link to the survey was circulated via the Ministry of Health and partner social media sites and generated responses from more than 400 people.

Online and offline social listening were also used to complement survey findings. Online chatter was monitored using the Talkwalker platform, allowing the SBC team to collect and analyze feedback on social media sites in real time. Offline, community feedback was collected through interviews, and discussions with communities which was particularly important to ensure that voices of communities with limited access to the network were heard.

Triangulation of these sources revealed that one of the reasons people were not getting their COVID-19 booster was access. The main barriers to access were that the vaccination sites were too far, and the timing didn’t work as the clinics were only open during working hours. People said they were too busy, and some didn’t know when and where to get the booster. The UNICEF SBC team shared these findings with the Ministry of Health along with recommended actions for increasing demand and uptake.

One of the shifts included a commitment by the Ministry to bring the vaccine closer to the people at times that were convenient for them. This was achieved through holding vaccination drives in public spaces, and on weekends. Venues included public markets, shopping centers, the university campus, and other popular events.

To ensure people were aware of the drive, had the information they needed to make an informed decision and to generate excitement around boosters, UNICEF supported the Ministry to move away from the traditional, medicalized approach to COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. Colourful and funky booster materials were developed, and flash mobs were organized at booster pop up sites in coordination with VOU, a well-known and talented, youth-led dance troupe.