Explain how the advertising campaign effectively promotes the influenza vaccination to a range of audiences.
Explain how the advertising campaign effectively promotes the influenza vaccination to a range of audiences.
CDC Influenza Awareness Campaign
Media Relations Toolkit
November 2011
Created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
About the Campaign
Each year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) invests in a national
awareness campaign to educate the general population about the importance of influenza
vaccination. As a critical public health issue, it is CDC’s mandate to inform at-risk populations
about the importance of vaccination and provide them with useful information about where to get
vaccinated.
Throughout the fall and winter months, CDC promotes this campaign nationally through print and
Internet ads, matte articles, TV and radio public services announcements, personal testimony
videos featuring parents who have been greatly affected by influenza, radio interviews, bites and
b-roll packages, special events, and collaboration with partners. One cornerstone of the
campaign is National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW), December 4 through December 10,
2011.
NIVW is intended to raise awareness about the importance of flu vaccination and
encourage vaccination through December, January and beyond. CDC recommends that partners
use this designated week to promote vaccination to their constituents, members, and employees
through their various communications channels as well as host free flu clinics that will include the
public as much as possible. In past years, NIVW included theme days to reach specific audiences
and promote flu vaccination among these groups.
NIVW 2011 will not include theme days in order to focus efforts on the universal flu vaccination recommendation. Though everyone 6 months of age and older is now recommended to get vaccinated, tailored messaging and materials for specific populations will still be available during NIVW.
Key Considerations for 2011-12 Campaign
While there are a number of factors about seasonal influenza that are beyond CDC’s control,
such as when influenza disease will surface, how severe the season will be, which groups it will
hit hardest, and how much vaccine will be available, the following key considerations help guide
CDC’s planning for the 2011–12 influenza season.
Key Messages
CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine as the first and most important step in protecting
against flu viruses
Even though the vaccine composition is still the same, everyone needs to get
vaccinated with this season’s vaccine because immunity from last season’s vaccine will
have declined.
People at high risk of serious flu complications include young children, pregnant women,
people with chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes, or heart and lung disease
and people 65 years and older.
Children 6 months through 8 years of age who did not receive at least one dose of the
2010-2011 vaccine, or for whom it is not certain whether 2010-2011 vaccine was received, should receive 2 doses of the 2011-2012 seasonal vaccine, administered at least 4 weeks apart.
There are two types of vaccines:
The “flu shot” — an inactivated vaccine (containing killed virus) that is given with a
needle, usually in the arm.
There are three different flu shots available:
o a regular flu shot approved for people ages 6 months and older
o a high-dose flu shot approved for people 65 and older, and
o the new intradermal flu shot approved for people 18 through 64 years of
age.
The age indications for the different flu shots vary, but all may be given to people
with chronic medical conditions.
The nasal-spray flu vaccine — a vaccine made with live, weakened flu viruses that
is given as a nasal spray (sometimes called LAIV for “Live Attenuated Influenza
Vaccine”). The viruses in the nasal spray vaccine do not cause the flu. LAIV is
approved for use in most healthy* people 2 through 49 years of age who are not
pregnant. (See http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/nasalspray.htm for a complete list of
those who can and cannot receive the nasal spray flu vaccine.)
Additional information and/or recommendations can be found at
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6033a3.htm
Using Media to Support the Campaign
To achieve the goals of this campaign, CDC relies heavily on its network of partner organizations
to promote its messages and activate communities to get vaccinated. One way in which partners
can help support this effort is by working with their local media to help inform the public about the
serious complications of the flu and the importance of vaccination.
We encourage partners to reach out to local media with powerful information and “pitch” them to cover the issue in
newspapers, television and radio programs, websites, magazines, and other outlets.
This toolkit is intended to help CDC partners expand and enhance their abilities to educate their
communities on this issue through media outreach. Designed as a resource for media novices
and experts alike, this toolkit offers a variety of tools, proven resources, models, and templates to
help you reach out to your local media.
Outlined within this document are the five critical steps to help you develop a media strategy and
prepare for the “pitch.”
Step 1: Developing Key Messages
Step 2: Developing Press Materials
Step 3: Preparing for Outreach
Step 4: Training your Spokespeople
Step 5: Pitching the Media