COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Public Awareness Campaign Contest

Increasing demand for and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines is essential for achieving “community immunity” (herd immunity) and returning to many of the social and work activities important to us all. Although many people are eager to get vaccinated, there are also significant proportions of the population who are hesitant, reluctant or mistrustful of the vaccines and the vaccination process. Good communications about the vaccines can help overcome hesitancy and promote acceptance.

The goal of the “Vaccine Uptake Public Awareness Campaign Contest” is to increase motivation to get a COVID-19 vaccine by delivering effective, tailored messages targeted to segments of the population that have higher levels of vaccine hesitancy.

With this competition, we hope to engage UIC students in developing strategic, creative messages that may help to promote acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines and motivate and mobilize people to get vaccinated.

AWARDS:

Prizes will be awarded within each category. In each category, we will award (1) $200 prize to the top-scoring submission with $100 prizes for honorable mention. There will also be (1) overall $400 grand prize winner across all categories. Winners will be announced in early May.

COMPETITION GUIDELINES

Submissions must:

• be from current UIC students (undergraduate or graduate)
• come from a team of 2-4 students
• fit one of the following seven categories:
  • Poster/Billboard/Print media
  • TikTok or YouTube video (must be less than 2 minutes)
  • Tweet or Facebook content
  • SnapChat or Instagram content
  • Radio/podcast (30 seconds or less)
  • Radio/podcast (5 minutes or less)
  • Other- creative freedom

Each submission must answer the following questions:

1. Who is the intended target audience?
2. Why? Justify your response based on need to reach individuals who might be hesitant to receive a vaccine.
3. What is the dissemination strategy/media plan to ensure your ad is seen by the target population?

DEADLINE: Friday, April 9, 2021, 5 p.m. CT

Learn more at https://go.uic.edu/projectvax_competition

For more information, please contact Lauren Rieger at laurenw@uic.edu