The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is strengthening its calls for the federal Government to urgently ramp up a campaign to boost vaccine confidence in the community.
The RACGP has previously stressed the importance of national targeted messaging and advertising for specific cohorts to clear up mixed messages and encourage more eligible people to get vaccinated. This is particularly important in the context of recent changes to AstraZeneca vaccine eligibility and patient concerns about vaccine safety.
It comes following an RACGP member survey conducted this month, which asked GPs what needs to be improved in the rollout of mRNA vaccines to general practice (e.g. Pfizer vaccine) based on their experiences with the AstraZeneca vaccine rollout.
92% of members said that improvement was needed in relation to "public awareness and education", including almost 70% of respondents who reported that "significant improvement" was necessary.
That same survey revealed that more than half of respondents considered the overall effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Australia "somewhat ineffective" or "very ineffective".
RACGP President Dr Karen Price said that the survey results should act as a strong wakeup call.
"GPs on the frontline delivering these vaccines see that more action is needed," she said.
"This country urgently needs a comprehensive, well-targeted, nation-wide campaign to boost vaccine confidence in the community.
"Unless our campaign is large-scale and effective, negative vaccination
