Background
The Washington State Department of Health (WA DOH) created a social marketing initiative called Vaccinate WA to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates. DOH was particularly interested in ensuring that typically underserved populations were proactively considered as campaign priority audiences. Understanding the attitudes, beliefs, barriers, and motivators regarding the vaccine was fundamental to creating an effective campaign. The campaign was grounded in significant ongoing research and strategies, and priority audiences were adjusted as vaccine rate data was analyzed.
Lessons Learned and Key Factors for Success
The goal of this effort was to build receptivity, intention, and action to get a COVID-19 vaccine to save lives and reduce the risk of serious illness from COVID-19. Washington State has done very well in its efforts to fight this pandemic. By April 2022, Washington ranked sixth lowest out of 50 states in terms of lowest cases per 100K population and 5th lowest in terms of deaths. As of May 2022, more than 13.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been given across Washington.