MKC Communications and the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) have won Best Healthcare Campaign at the 2022 Awards for Excellence in Public Relations for ‘Community Immunity’: Supporting COVID-19 vaccinations in Irish pharmacies.
Throughout 2021 a comprehensive healthcare campaign was delivered by the IPU and MKC Communications. This campaign aimed to maximise the positive impact of Ireland’s community pharmacies in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
The Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) is the representative and professional body for over 2,300 community pharmacists in Ireland. The IPU exists to advocate, advance and protect the role of the pharmacist at the centre of primary healthcare.
The campaign consisted of three phases: ensuring pharmacies commenced vaccinating as early as practicable, to vaccinate as many people as possible and securing participation in the Booster vaccine campaign. The outcome was over 750,000 COVID vaccines being administered in Irish pharmacies.
The IPU secured numerous broadcast interviews on both national regional media, the media regularly asked health authorities including HSE Chief Executive Paul Reid when pharmacies would commence vaccinations and pharmacies reported to the IPU that were inundated with requests for vaccinations. The campaign reached a total of 39 million people.
The panel of 13 judges said that the entry by MKC Communications and the IPU was “a very focused campaign with clear objectives and quality content that reached well-defined audiences to deliver strong outcomes”.
Additionally, MKC Communications and Maths Week Ireland were Highly Commended in the category for Best Communications Campaign by a Not-for-Profit Organisation or NGO.
Every year the Awards for Excellence in Public Relations, hosted by the PRCA (Ireland) and PRII, celebrate the very best of Irish Public Relations and Communications work over the previous twelve months.
