To ask the Minister of Health what plans he has for a publicity campaign to promote getting the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

My Department is working closely with our delivery partners, including the PHA and community organisations to promote uptake of both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine for maximum protection from the Covid virus.

Media campaigns have been produced both nationally and locally to send the message for people to become fully vaccinated for their own health and well-being but also for society, e.g. the powerful TV ad “Every vaccination brings us closer, together” delivers a message to look forward to travel and events, shared together.

My Department is particularly keen to reach out to younger people and is working with the PHA to produce a targeted media campaign. Uptake is being encouraged through social media and peer influencers, particularly from the fields of sport and entertainment.

While the rate limiting factor remains the availability of vaccine, the programme is continuing at a steady pace and has already administered over 590,000 second doses. The HSCNI Vaccination Dashboard provides a real time update of the programme’s notable progress, and can be found at the following link:-

https://covid-19.hscni.net/ni-covid-19-vaccinations-dashboard/

The NI Vaccination Programme is specifically designed to appeal to as many people as possible to protect the population, particularly older and vulnerable citizens in our community and help us move gradually towards the easing of restrictions in society, when it is safe to do so.