Winner
A Race Against Time - Rocket-Fuelling the Recruitment into a Vital COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Study
Summary of work
By May 2021, the COVID-19 vaccine roll out was in full swing. Many of the UK’s older populations had had their first doses, and the extension to 40-50yr olds was under way. The Drug Safety Research Unit (DSRU) in Southampton – one of the world’s leading pharmacovigilance and pharmacoepidemiology units – had been commissioned to run a post-vaccine safety study for one of the manufacturers.
Following a successful few months using traditional media, the DSRU successfully signed up 8,000 of the 15,000 people needed, but things started to slow.
The study was only open to those who received their first dose within 6 weeks of enrolling, and many potential study participants were starting to fall outside of the time frame. And then the context changed too. The Government announced it was not offering this vaccine to the under 40s. The target population pool was drying up fast and every day counted.
This campaign responded to the ticking clock and navigated the sensitivities around vaccine safety while educating on the role of post-authorisation studies. A total of over 18,000 sign-ups – 20% over target – exceeded expectations, meaning that even more vital safety data would be available to the scientific community for the ongoing fight against COVID-19.
Judges’ comments
Stirred and DSRU delivered a strong campaign with impressive results. It was a good, self-contained entry which was very well written. It used its influencers well, delivered against what it needed to do and against brief in an exceptional way. And had really impressive results!
