Getting South Africans vaccinated: The #RollUpYourSleeves Campaign

Despite initial enthusiasm for the COVID-19 vaccine, vaccine hesitancy remains a significant obstacle in South Africa. This has left millions of vulnerable South Africans unvaccinated and threatens to create a situation where there are continuing waves of COVID infections.

Working on behalf of the Solidarity Fund, Genesis designed a comprehensive communications campaign to encourage all South Africans to be vaccinated. Under the branding #RollUpYourSleeves, the campaign, delivered and developed by Joe Public, uses mass media, social media, and face to face communication to deliver behaviourally informed messaging to a vast proportion of the South African population.

The campaign is anchored by an emotive TV advertising campaign, which aims to be inspirational, and is backed up by various media products addressing myths and misconceptions about the vaccine. This is supported by social mobilisation teams in communities around the country.