It’s hard to believe that the year in which the COVID-19 pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization is the same year that we worked with Pfizer Canada to support the launch and approval by Health Canada of the first vaccine to fight against the coronavirus. This is a welcome step forward for all Canadians, and a moment of pride for all science and health communicators.
Over the past 10 months, we have witnessed many hardships, but also great resilience from Canadians as they scramble to continue working and living despite the pandemic. This is also true for governments, and for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry. From the ability of Health Canada to reorganize itself to quickly receive submissions from Pfizer and BioNTech, as well as other companies, to the speed at which distribution plans have taken hold in the provinces, we have had proof that amazing things become possible when everyone works together towards a common goal.
NATIONAL supported Pfizer’s corporate affairs team in developing a comprehensive and thoughtful media relations strategy aimed at accommodating the high volume of requests from journalists while allowing interviews with several of the company’s leaders. Each spokesperson was able to offer their perspective on the science behind the vaccine, the approval process and the distribution plan. Just hours after the announcement, there were already over 1,000 mentions, including all major media.
Vaccination can be a sensitive topic, but vaccines are truly one of the most important public health advances of our time. NATIONAL is proud to have played a small role in this great moment in Canadian history. We are excited to build on these learnings and support other clients in critical situations over the next year.
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