Virgin Australia joins the campaign to accelerate vaccinations

Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka joined other business leaders at the Operation COVID Shield National Business Partnership Forum meeting.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, LG John Frewen, Coordinator-General, National COVID Vaccine Taskforce & Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer hosted the roundtable to discuss the Federal Government’s Vaccination program.

Virgin Australia looks forward to working with the Federal Government to help protect the community and ensure we can keep our economy moving.

Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said “I welcome today’s constructive round table discussion between the Federal Government, businesses and industry groups”.

“The more we can work together, the more likely we are to find a way to speed up the vaccination of the Australian population, which should be our joint goal”.

“Big employers have the ability to stand up vaccination programs very quickly and would welcome the opportunity to be able to vaccinate as much of their workforce as quickly as possible”.

Having large employers run vaccination programs would take pressure off the government, get a large number of people vaccinated in a short period of time, and bring private sector efficiencies and capabilities into the equation.

What is also needed is a public education campaign, fuelled with information from around the world, to help people understand the safety and efficacy of each of the vaccine choices. There are some great examples of innovative public education campaigns in places like France, New Zealand and Singapore.

There is too much misinformation and misguided fear around vaccination, and it is time to fix that. People need to understand that the only way to protect themselves and their loved ones is to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

“Virgin Australia would be happy to support an education campaign which helps to explain the merits, the safety, and the importance of vaccination and helps the Australian community to make a properly informed choice,” Hrdlicka said.

In terms of incentives, the Treasurer used the example of airlines offering frequent flyer points, adding that incentives on offer would be “more than a snag at Bunnings”.

In May Qantas launched an incentive to reward those who get the jab with Frequent Flyer points, flight vouchers or Frequent Flyer status upgrades.

Last month, Virgin also revealed it would incentivise the jab with a national competition that would offer fully vaccinated Aussies the chance to win tens of thousands of dollars worth of prizes, which will be revealed once the competition opens.

But, the airline said it will give away dozens of free business-class flights and one lucky Australian will become a Velocity Frequent Flyer Points millionaire.