Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care

"Flu Shot"

Addressing the annual flu season is a complex issue. Most Ontarians feel it's a nuisance, and many don't realize the number of people it sends to hospitals, or that it can lead to death for the population's most vulnerable members.

Despite universal recommendations by public health officials urging everyone over the age of six months to get vaccinated, the majority of Ontarians still don't get the shot. Barriers include lack of time, fear of side effects or disbelief of the shot's efficacy.

The idea was to dispel the myths by addressing the most common barriers and reinforce the benefits of flu immunization. The agency decided to leverage targeted media and work with celebrity parents, media and bloggers to encourage other parents to vaccinate their children.

Veritas created a video, featuring celebrity and parenting media, that acted as a call-to-action for parents. The Social's Traci Melchor, ET Canada's Rick Campanelli and a host of mom bloggers joined Dr. Arlene King, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, to urge Ontarians to get the shot. The video was distributed to media and bloggers to share on their sites and social networks.

In contrast to the Ministry's annual flu shot news conference for news and political media, Veritas held a separate event for parenting media, allowing increased dialogue and targeted messaging. Top parenting, lifestyle and health media and bloggers were invited to the John B. Aird gallery in McDonald Block where they were able to hear from Dr. King why the flu vaccine is important for children as well as interact with Ministry stakeholders.

In addition, a news conference was held at the Ontario Hospital Association's annual Health Achieve conference, where the association's CEO, alongside Dr. King, demonstrated his personal commitment by getting the flu shot and advocating for health care worker compliance. Outreach included stories, a myth-busting infographic and media placements that included Dr. King getting her flu shot on Global Morning Live.